Refusing to Believe
by carrytheotter
Summary: In the search for Hermione's parents Ron is stricken with an unknown curse. The experts and family all agree that Ron is brain dead, alive only in a shell of himself. But Hermione refuses to believe that her soul mate is gone, fighting to find him and bring him home. Ron, meanwhile, is fighting just as hard to get back, falling more in love with his witch every step of the way.
1. Chapter 1

**_Instead of finishing part 2 of "At The Heart of Courage," I fell down another rabbit hole of an idea and have a completely different story to share with you. This takes place in the years following the Battle of Hogwarts. It has canon couples, but isn't necessarily intended to comply with the epilogue or the Cursed Child. _**

**_This one is a bit out there, so I hope you'll hang in there with me for the first few chapters until you can get into the heart of the story. The story is mostly done, so I hope to post it all in the next few weeks. I can't wait to hear your thoughts and feedback. As always, thanks and awe to the great JK Rowling for creating such amazing characters and letting us continue to play in the incredible universe she built. _**

**_And now, without further ado...onto the story. _**

Chapter 1

She must have tried to turn her head in her sleep, because it was the searing pain of a stiff neck forced out of position that roused her from her slumber. As she immediately reached for her neck and tried to slowly stretch it, she realized she must have fallen asleep leaning over his bed. Again. She looked at his hand resting peacefully in hers and marveled at the rise and fall of his chest. He looked so peaceful. If she didn't know better she would think he was just asleep and would awake at any moment.

She tried to sit up straight and stretch out her back, letting go of his hand to reach her arms above her head as she tried to work out the kinks that had set in overnight. Standing up, she leaned over and cupped his still face in her right hand, leaned down and chastely kissed his lips.

"Good morning, Ron," she said softly.

She let out a deep breath and looked at him again, reaching to move some of his ginger fringe away from his eyes. She knew it didn't need to be done, but she felt better when she felt like she was doing something – anything – to care for him.

"I know, I know, you had to fall for a ruddy morning person. But, it's too late to change that now," she said teasingly. "I'm going to head to the loo and get ready for the day while you slowly wake up. When I come back I'll find Alice and we'll start your morning routine, alright?"

Without waiting for a response, she headed over to the small bathroom attached to his room. She stripped off her dirty clothes and stepped into the shower, letting the hot water pound on her sore neck for longer than usual. Once she was clean, she dried off and put on the clean clothes she pulled out of her trusted beaded bag. Then she did a quick spell on the room to dry it again, as it was hard to keep the water in the shower stall when it had no curb to make it easy to roll a wheel chair straight in.

She put on some lip gloss, but then she shook her head and muttered to herself, "Not sure why I bother with that, no one will care anyway." Then she stopped herself, took a deep breath and let it out slowly and then looked in the mirror and spoke sternly to her reflection. "Stop that, Hermione. You have to stay positive. That grumbling and negative thinking doesn't help anything. Now, pull yourself together, you have to go back out there and be the upbeat positive one. He's counting on you. It's what he would do for you – what he has done for you." She stared at her eyes in the mirror for a moment and then plastered on a smile and headed back into the main room.

"All clean," she chirped as she crossed the room and put her bag back on the chair near her books. "Your turn, mister," she added. "It's after half seven now, so I am sure Alice will be in any minute, but should we get started without her? Yeah, I think so too."

With that she flicked her wand at the bed and it slowly began to bend so that Ron was moved to an almost sitting position. As it moved, she cast another charm to prop up his head and hold him to the bed so he didn't slump forward as it moved. She was rearranging his sheets as the door opened, and the older witch walked in.

"Good morning, Alice," said Hermione.

"Good morning, Hermione," she said. "He was ready to get going early this morning, was he?"

"Well, I thought so," Hermione replied with a smile. "Need to start the week off right, don't we? My mum used to say it was good to always be early on Mondays, then you weren't starting off by having to catch up. Of course, I am rather confident Ron never embraced that particular philosophy, but until he tells me to stop we're going with it."

"Good plan," chuckled the woman as she washed her hands. Then turning to the ginger in the bed she said in a more formal voice, "Alright Mr. Weasley, let's get the unpleasant parts out of the way first, shall we? Hermione, will you hand me that catheter please?"

Hermione nodded and in a practiced routine laid out the sterile supplies that were needed and then turned around to pretend to fuss with the books next to her bag. Despite how intimate she was with Ron's body, she had refused to be the one to catheterize him. She felt like she should preserve his dignity and let the nurses catheterize him and change his adult sized-diaper when he soiled it. There had been times when she'd done it out of necessity, but she always apologized when she'd done that. It was one grip of normalcy she refused to give up on. At least not yet.

"All done," Alice proclaimed, and Hermione turned back around and smiled at the older woman. She was in her late fifties, was built rather like Mrs. Weasley and gave off the air of both authority and formality until you looked in her eyes. Once you looked past the starched white skirts and stockings, you could see there was great tenderness and caring in her eyes if you could see past the stern exterior. She was a formidable witch, though, and most of the younger staff members on that floor at St. Mungo's were terrified of her. She would not stand for improper care or lackadaisical attitudes on her unit. But Hermione had been working with her for so long now, that she and the stern nurse had formed a bond of sorts, and Hermione was extremely grateful for her.

"I've washed his privates," said the woman formally, "do you want me to continue or would you prefer to handle everything else?"

"I'll do it, thanks," said Hermione with a smile.

"Right. Then let's administer the breakfast infusion and I'll get his vitals, and then leave you two to it."

Hermione nodded as Alice charmed a tube up Ron's nose and down through his throat. Connecting that to a bag of beige liquid, she hung it on a pole attached to the head of the bed. Then she did a few quick spells to note his temperature, blood pressure and heart rate, jotting them down on the parchment at the front of the room.

"Everything's good this morning. I don't think we need any of the other potions for now, Hermione. How about you, can I have someone fetch you some breakfast?"

"Oh, no, thanks Alice. You know me – I'm not quite ready to face food yet."

Alice frowned as she replied, "Hermione, if you don't take care of yourself, you won't be able to take care of him."

"You sound just like him," Hermione said sadly.

"Well, good. Glad he's a sensible lad. You should listen to him and eat something. I'll send in one of the elves with some porridge and tea in a bit. You can fuss at me later," she said and marched out of the room.

Hermione closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. "You should know that I am only going to eat that horrid porridge because I know you would want me to. Although, it can't be too much worse than whatever it is they're feeding you. So, I guess I shouldn't complain. But I promise you, I am trying hard to figure out a way to get you to be able to taste good food again. Part of me thinks if you could just have some chicken and a chocolate frog or two that you would be much more your old self."

She sighed sadly for a moment and looked at him, unresponsive in the bed, and then shook her head again and put her chipper attitude back on.

"Right. No wallowing. Bath time. Harry and Gin said they would come by at lunch today, so we need to get you cleaned up and get through your stretches in time for a short rest before then. Don't want you too tired to enjoy their visit."

But before she could get started, an elf appeared with a tray of breakfast.

"Thank you, Essie," Hermione said. "Could I give you anything to show how thankful I am?"

"Oh no, Miss, Essie is happy to help her friend."

Hermione nodded and the elf disappeared with a crack. She sighed and sat to take a few bites of her breakfast and drink the tea.

"I know you're rolling your eyes at me somehow," she said. "And yes, I fully see the irony of having an elf serve me my meals multiple times a day. And no, I am not going to trick them into taking clothes or anything. I guess we're both growing or something. Who knows."

When she was done, she summoned the basin and flannel and began to wash his limbs. As she did so, she would work each through a series of bends and stretches, trying to will life back into the lifeless muscles. After that she cleaned his torso, saving his face for last. She only washed his hair when they moved him to the shower, as it was a too messy to try and rinse out the soap in the bed. But, he only needed it every few days or so as long as she wet it down with the damp flannel each morning and did a refreshing charm. Afterwards she would wipe down his cheeks and forehead, tracing her fingers over his pale eyelashes and lips. Then she would shave his face. She had been nervous the first time she'd done that, but Harry and Charlie both assured her she had done a good job, and now she quite enjoyed that part of their morning routine. She loved how she used the same soap he always had, and once she was done she could slide her cheek next to his, inhale deeply and at least for a tiny moment be transported back to when life was simpler.

She was standing and leaning awkwardly over his bed with her face buried in the crook of his neck, inhaling the smell when Alice came back in.

"Hermione," she fussed. "How many times have I told you to just expand the bed?"

"Couldn't say for sure," admitted Hermione. "But we've been here nine months this week, and you work about five days a week, so probably somewhere around 200 times I suppose."

"Huh," huffed the witch. "They call you the smartest witch of your age, you know. And some may be impressed with your quick arithmetic skills, but if you were really smart you would just expand the bloody bed."

"Thank you, Alice," Hermione said with a twinge of snippiness in her voice. "I know perfectly well how to enlarge the bed. But, I am not sick and don't need to be in bed all day, and neither is he. So, if you wouldn't mind, would you help me get him into the chair before our friends come? I want to put some clothes on him today. Help him feel a bit more like himself for company, you know?"

"One of these days I am going to switch my shift so I am here in the evening and force you to expand that bed."

Hermione simply ignored the comment and rolled the wheelchair to its position next to the bed and locked the wheels in place. Then she got tracksuit bottoms and Cannons shirt out of the beaded bag. As Alice levitated Ron out of the bed, Hermione got him dressed, slipping on the wool socks once he was securely in the wheelchair.

"I would prefer he wore muggle denim trousers or corduroys, but they just seem too hard to get on and off when you need catheterize him, so these will have to do, I suppose."

"I think he looks quite smart," Alice proclaimed as she secured his head to the head rest on the back of the chair, ensuring he didn't slump forward.

"You know, Alice, I think we need to have him sleep on his side for a few days," Hermione said. "We need to make sure his skin is alright. We don't want any pressure ulcers or bed sores to develop."

"And how do you know about bed sores?" chuckled the older witch. "No, don't tell me. A book, right?"

"Well, yes. When my grandmother went into a care home years ago I read up on caring for people with strokes and such so I know what we're up against, you know?"

"Right. Were these muggle books or magical?"

"Muggle," Hermione admitted quietly.

"Right. Well, if you'd read the magical ones, you'd know we charm the mattress to change pressure points on the body throughout the day. His skin is perfectly fine, I promise."

"Ok," Hermione said as the woman nodded and left them alone again.

As the door shut, Hermione sighed and looked at Ron. "I still think we need to keep you in different positions. Even if they have fixed the skin issue, I would think you just hurt being in the same position all of the time. I get stiff if I sit without moving for a few hours, so I can only imagine you are itching to stretch out and shift." She kissed his forehead and then added, "and I think you are all done with breakfast. Let me get that horrid tube out. I hope this is the right thing, Ron. The healers insist it's better to move it in and out each meal, but I just don't know. It seems to me it would hurt and feel awful, but I am trying to believe the experts, and, well, you know – I haven't found any good books on it yet." As she vanished the tubing and bag from breakfast, she continued and cleaned up the room from the rest of the morning's activities.

When she was done she glanced at the clock on the wall. "Oh, good. Still an hour before Harry and Gin are set to come. Maybe we could read a bit or have a quick kip before then." Then she blushed a bit and added, "I don't know why I feel silly about this compared to everything else. But, if it's ok with you, I want to try sitting on your lap for a few minutes, ok? I won't be long, I promise – don't want to crush you or anything. I just..."

At that her voice cracked a little and she wiped a tear from her eye before it could fall.

"Sorry, sorry," she sniffed. "It's just you're the one who is good at being positive. I'm trying. I really am. But I still need you, Ron. I need you to come back to me. I love you so much, and I miss you so much. If you can't come back, I don't know how much longer I can manage to be here without you."

At that she wheeled the chair to a part of the room not immediately visible from the door to allow them some semblance of privacy. She parked him in front of the window and sat on his lap, hesitantly at first. Then she relaxed into him more, snuggling her head against his chest. She took a deep breath, inhaling his scent and letting the rhythm of his heart and his breath sooth her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As Hermione slept there on his chest, Ron realized this was the closest to normal he had felt since this nightmare had started. For this tiny moment he could just be himself, with his amazing girlfriend sitting on his lap, nuzzling into his chest as she slept. Her crazy curls were tickling his nose, which did drive him a bit mad as he could do nothing to move them, but he savored it nonetheless. What he wouldn't give to be able to move his arms and hold her tightly, or to be able to move his lips to be able to kiss her, or use his voice to assure her he was right there - always had been and always would be. But he couldn't move a single muscle, not even his eyes to control which direction he looked. He was a prisoner in his own body and had been for almost nine months now.

He knew that practically everyone had given up hope. Everyone except Hermione anyway. She had refused to believe any of the pronouncements of his brain death. He could hear how they would whisper quietly in those few moments when she would step away. They all felt it would be merciful to "let him go," as they put it. And he had to admit that if he had been in their shoes, he probably would have felt the same. Hell, even in his own shoes he occasionally felt the same. But the problem was that no one knew he was there at all, let alone that there was a way to get him out of this mess. And, he had to acknowledge that at this point he would only even try to come back for her. But as she had fallen asleep, she had made a small comment that made him worry she was wanting to give up both on him and on her own life. If she did, he could never make it. He didn't know what he would do.

No, he mentally shook himself, he had to stay positive. If Hermione could stay this positive, he would too. He couldn't let himself spiral down into the depths of despair. It was as bad as dementors when he let the dark thoughts take hold. He had to mentally bring forth the memories that would fuel a mental patronus even if he couldn't conjure one without his wand or moving his arms and hands, let alone his vocal cords. And before today, he would focus on great memories that he had – like when Hermione had first kissed him, or those times they were able to be alone together after the battle when they were just figuring out what they had each been missing. But now, he could add this moment to his bank of happy thoughts. He tried to memorize what it felt like to have her against him like that, how he could feel her heartbeat, and how her warm breath felt against his neck. He savored those moments he could really focus on how amazing she smelled despite being locked up in St. Mungo's with him for all this time. And he loved how her breath made this little whistle noise on the exhale when she was sleeping peacefully. He hadn't heard that sound in a while, and it made his heart sore to think he had helped her get some much needed peaceful rest even if he felt completely useless.

He tried to simply be in the moment. Over the past few months he'd remembered some snippets of things he had heard over the years and was trying to remember what Hermione had told him about those muggle monks in Asia somewhere who meditated all of the time. Of course he was bollocks at it at first, but he'd figured he had all the time in the world to practice. So, he'd kept trying and had found that he really did improve over time. He could focus on being in the present moment, letting go of the past and the future, and it truly was helping fight off those internal dementors. So, for the moment, he focused on the joy he felt as she sat on his lap – and on the amazing sense of physical pleasure after so long of nothing but pain or discomfort. He couldn't see the clock from where she had parked the wheelchair, but he felt like it had been more than an hour since she fell asleep, and he knew Harry and Gin would come soon and wake her up. He was working hard to fight off the dread and anticipation of what it would feel like when she got up. _I'm thankful in this moment_, he kept repeating in his head. But sure enough, a few minutes later he heard the door open behind him.

"Hermione?" he heard his sister's voice call.

This caused Hermione to jolt up, kneeing him in the bollocks as she did. _Oh bloody fuck_, he thought. The pain of the kick combined with the sudden lack of Hermione in his lap pulled at his heart, and he mentally tried to catch his breath to stay positive, but of course from the outside, there wasn't a flinch of recognition in his face to betray anything going on in his mind.

"Oh, hi," Hermione said in an embarrassed tone as she smoothed the wrinkles from her jumper and tucked a curl behind her ear.

"Did we wake you," he heard Harry ask gently.

"No, no. I was just caught up in a book. You know how I do that," she deflected and went to turn the chair around to point Ron at the visitors.

"Ron, look who's come to visit," Hermione said, turning his chair around. "Harry and Gin have come, and it smells like they brought us some lunch."

Ron couldn't see Hermione's face from where he sat, but he caught the concerned glance exchanged between his best mate and his sister as Hermione continued to act as if Ron was there with them and could understand everything that was said. He could, of course, but no one else seemed to believe that. He had hoped Harry might still trust Hermione on this, but he now saw clearly that wasn't to be.

"Aren't you going to say hello?" Hermione asked, slightly put out.

Harry glanced awkwardly between the two witches and then looked at Ron, "Hey, mate," he finally said.

Ginny simply looked at him and gave him a sad smile, but said nothing. Always the practical one, he mused.

There was a brief awkward silence before Harry asked, "So, Hermione, what are you reading that has you so engrossed?"

"Oh," she said, embarrassed, "well, I've been reading a muggle book actually. It's on how to care for patients who have lost the ability to talk."

"Uh, oh, well, yeah, that's brilliant," said Harry in a stilted voice.

Ginny soon stepped in, "Hermione, when was the last time you left St. Mungo's?"

"Oh, I don't know. Been a while I guess."

"Have you left since I took you to lunch that day?" she asked, more insistently.

"Uh, well, no I don't think so. Hard to tell anymore. Days seem to blur together."

Harry sighed, running his hand through his messy black hair. "Hermione, it's not healthy to stay here for so long. You need to get out a bit. Maybe come stay with us for a night?"

"I'm **_not_** leaving him," she said in a suddenly fierce tone, and Ron could feel that she had now held his shoulder and his hand in her tightening grip.

"Hermione," Ginny said sighing.

"Don't, Gin," she threatened. "Look, we've both looked forward to seeing you two. Can you just drop it please? I don't want to spoil our time together."

While his feisty sister looked as if she were going to push further, Harry stepped in and brokered the peace between the two witches. "Hey, I have an idea, maybe we could go upstairs and eat lunch out on the roof? It's a lovely day and I think the fresh air would do everyone some good, especially Ron. He never liked being cooped up inside."

"That is a good idea, Harry," Hermione said. "Let me just fetch a blanket and let Alice know where we'll be."

With that Hermione left the room, leaving Ron staring lifelessly at his sister and best mate.

"What are we going to do, Harry?" Ginny said. "First we lost Fred, then we lost Ron, and now I think we're losing Hermione to madness. I can't keep losing the ones I love. I just can't."

"I know," he sighed. "I know." He held Ginny tightly as she sniffed away the tears and tried to pull herself together before Hermione returned.

Soon Ginny pulled back and shook herself, then smoothed back her long red hair. Then turning to Ron, she touched his cheek. "It was easier with Fred," she said staring directly into Ron's eyes. "He was all the way gone, you know? Now we have this shell of a body Hermione insists on pretending is my brother, and we can't even grieve properly because she insists he's still here. But, he's not, Harry. This isn't Ron. Look, there isn't one ounce of recognition in his face. No crooked grin, no mischievous sparkle in his eyes. Nothing. Just a shell."

Before Harry could comment, Hermione bustled back into the room carrying a warm blanket to cover Ron with and another one for them to sit on for their picnic.

Ron felt a leap of joy in his chest like a little boy. He was going to get to go outside! He hadn't done that in so long, he wasn't sure he could even remember what it felt like to be in fresh air. He was practically giddy. But it was so strange being this happy on the inside without being able to smile at all. It was as if the act of smiling itself somehow enhanced joy on its own. He made a mental promise that if ever did get out of this horrible predicament that he would never take smiling for granted again.

The girls went ahead, and Harry followed pushing Ron in the wheel chair. They made it to the lifts that took them up to the top floor. Ron desperately wished he could move his eyes so that he could take in the sights around him. While he had been out of his room and taken down to a little solarium at the end of the hallway, he couldn't remember leaving the floor since he'd been there. The lifts took them to the top floor, but there were still some stairs to maneuver to get out to the rooftop area. Harry levitated the wheelchair and they made it to the rooftop door without too much difficulty. As the door opened, Ron was blinded by the sunshine. Unfortunately being totally paralyzed meant he couldn't squint his eyes at all, so he was quite at the mercy of the situation. But he should have known Hermione would think of everything, and she quickly placed sunglasses on him.

"Here you go, Ron. These should help," she said.

"I thought glasses were sort of my thing," Harry teased.

"Well," chuckled, "I don't think they are necessarily his signature look, but they'll help today."

Ginny gave a tight lipped smile and turned her attention to the food. "Mum packed a whole spread. She said to give you her love and to make sure I told you how much she wants you to come to Sunday dinner one of these days."

"One of these days," Hermione said wistfully.

Harry once again stepped in to save the moment. "Actually, there was some exciting news shared at last night's dinner."

"What?"

_If that git's already proposed to my sister I am going to figure out how to deck him_, Ron mused. _She's barely out of school!_

"Bill and Fleur are going to have a baby!" Ginny squealed. "She isn't due until after Christmas, but I am so excited! I get to be an auntie. Isn't that thrilling?"

"That's wonderful news," said Hermione, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. "I'm sure Mrs. Weasley will be so excited to have a grandbaby to fuss over."

"Well, she had already started knitting before we left last night," Harry laughed. "I think Bill and Fleur decided to share the news earlier than usual as a way to try and bring some joy back to the family gatherings. It was nice to see everyone smiling again."

"Do you hear that, Ron?" Hermione said as she leaned against his leg. "You're going to be an uncle! Bill's going to be a dad."

"George is already taking bets on when the baby is actually born and whether it's a boy or a girl," Ginny laughed.

"And did you place any bets?"

"Not yet. Though, I am sure it will be a boy. I'm the only Weasley girl, you know."

"Yeah, but don't veela's usually have girls?" asked Hermione.

"Humph. She's only part veela anyway. My money will be on another ginger boy, just a really good looking one this time," Gin huffed.

"Well, heaven help Bill if it is a girl. I hear being a dad to a girl is hard enough without them being part veela," laughed Harry.

The picnic continued, and Ron focused on the sound of his best friends and little sister chatting while the warmth of the sun kissed his skin and he felt the breeze blow his hair slightly. He really hoped they brought him out here again, but was thrilled Harry had suggested to do it today.

Eventually Ginny looked at her watch and said, "Oh Merlin, I promised Mum I'd be back by four. I can't get her upset. Harry, we need to get going."

Ron saw Hermione's shoulders deflate the tiniest bit and felt sad that they had been her only company in quite some time.

"Um, why don't you go on, Ginny? I'll be home later. I'm going to stay and visit a bit longer. I want to be sure Hermione can get Ron back to the room and all settled."

"Right," he heard his sister say. He couldn't see her, but he could feel the disappointment and tension in her voice. "Will you be home for supper?"

"I'm not sure," Harry said looking between Ron and Hermione. "Why don't you tell your mum not to wait on me, and I'll just get leftovers if I'm not back in time."

"Ok," she sighed. Then she leaned down to hug Hermione. "I miss you, Hermione. You know that, right? You know I'm just worried about you. I don't want to lose you too."

Ron couldn't see Hermione's face as she was still leaning against his leg, but he felt her go rigidly tense at his sister's comment. Finally she managed to say, "You're not going to lose us, Ginny. Ron and I are right here. Just having a difficult time of it right now, but we're rather experienced at bumps in the road. Things will turn out. They just have to."

Ginny didn't say anything else, just hugged Hermione and then walked off, wiping tears from her eyes as she went. Ron heard the roof top door behind him close with a bang, and then he felt Hermione start to shake ever so slightly, and he suddenly knew she was crying too. But, Harry being Harry, it took him a few minutes to notice – or at least a few minutes to say something.

"She means well, you know. She is worried about you because she loves you so much," he finally said.

Hermione said nothing, but was clearly trying to control her tears. Ron tried to will Harry to hug her or something, but Harry stayed rooted to his spot on the blanket. The two sat in silence for quite some time. Ron noticed he could even hear all of the muggle rush hour traffic, so he figured it must have been over at hour. He'd never understood how those two could sit silently like that. Both of them had said that when he'd left them on the horcrux hunt that they'd barely spoken, and he hadn't really believed they mean it literally. He thought it was more that they hadn't spoken much about him. But after witnessing this mutual silence many times now, he finally believed that they really had barely spoken at all.

_Just bloody weird_, he thought.

Finally, Hermione said in a voice barely above a whisper, "Do you think I'm going mad, Harry? I know they all do, but I need to know if you do too."

Harry sighed, and finally came and sat next to her, taking her hand in his as he looked in her eyes.

"Honestly, Hermione? Honestly, I don't know what to think."

She nodded in what seemed to Ron to be relief, and he could hear her sniffing away more tears.

Harry sighed again and continued, "Gin would kill me for saying this, but I really don't know. I think the Weasleys, well, I think after losing Fred they have mentally treated this the same way. They have lost him and can't preserve hope he is still there, or even that part of him is still there, because they couldn't do that for Fred, you know? And I guess I thought Mrs. Weasley would never give up, but when all of those healers separately told her that he wasn't with us anymore, I think she took that as the last word. That's when she allowed herself to grieve and move on. Because if she didn't I don't think she would still be alive."

"What about you, Harry? What do you think?"

Harry ran his hand over his jaw line and looked at Ron, staring deep into his eyes. Ron held the gaze and felt as if he was screaming from the inside _I'M HERE, HARRY! I'M RIGHT HER_E_!_, but Harry saw nothing.

Finally, Harry sighed and said, "I know there is no sign of him, but somehow I feel like after all that we've been through together that I would just KNOW if my best mate was gone, you know?"

"Yes, I do," she sobbed, and crushed Harry with a tight embrace. Finally Harry started to rub her back awkwardly and tried to soothe her.

_I love you, you git,_ thought Ron. _But you really need to be quicker on the uptake when witches start crying._

After she'd stopped crying and calmed her breath, she said, "I just don't know what to do. I really think he's still there. But the routine we've stuck with hasn't worked. But, I have to DO something, Harry, otherwise I really will go completely mad."

"Well, I'm not sure if this is helpful or not," Harry said with a nervous expression. "But, Luna doesn't think he's gone either."

Hermione let loose with a primal growl half way between an anguished howl and a laugh, but it seemed to be what she needed to start laughing and release some of that pent up emotion.

_Always liked Luna,_ he thought.

Finally she got her composure back and said, "Well Ron always said she was good value. And I think she's known more than we gave her credit for all along."

Harry smiled, and for the first time that day he reached out to touch Ron as well. Holding his hand on Ron's foot he said, "The three of us have been through so much. I don't know if he's still here or not, Hermione. But until I know for sure that he's gone, I am not going to give up either. Though, at least for now, I can't say that in front of Gin, ok? It's too hard on her. I'm sorry if that is hurtful, Hermione. But I've hurt her so much with everything else, I just can't make it worse."

"No, it's ok. I understand, Harry. I really do. But I appreciate you letting me know how you really feel."

"Yeah, but that doesn't help you in the end does it?"

'Well, partly it does, I suppose. But I could use some help figuring out how to navigate from here. I mean, on the hunt we wasted so much time and then things sort of presented themselves. At this point I think we've spent as much time in that hospital room as we did in the tent, and we're not getting anywhere. But I don't know what to do."

Harry was quiet for a while, which Ron knew meant he was thinking.

_Come on, Potter. For the love of Merlin, tell her to go to the ruddy library! _Ron screamed in his head._ Even if she can't find anything it will help her feel more like herself._

"You know, Hermione," Harry said tentatively. "Whenever you don't know what to do you always go do research. I don't see why this is any different."

_Thank goodness,_ Ron mentally sighed.

"Well," she said, slightly caught off guard, "that's logical. But I can't leave him here alone, Harry. I just won't do it. So I either need to get someone I trust to stay with him or I need to figure out how to smuggle him out of here and into a library."

Harry smirked at her. "Not like we haven't done worse."

She laughed and hugged him, "I love you, Harry," Ron heard her mumble.

"Come on," Harry said. "Let's get you two back and settled before I have to get going. And you know I'm not good at big plans on the spot. Give me a day or two and we'll sort something out, alright?"

Ron could see the back of her head nod at him, and he could picture the grin on her face and hopefully the smile in her eyes.

_Thank you, Harry, _he thought._ Thank you for giving her back some hope. For giving both of us some hope. _


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

By Thursday evening, Hermione was getting excited. She hadn't seen any of their friends or family since Harry had left on Monday, but she'd received an owl from him promising he would bring her muggle takeaway that evening. It would just be him, which was in many ways a relief. As much as she loved Ginny, she knew she was in no state to handle anyone questioning her belief that Ron was still with them.

She had thought a lot the past few days about where Ginny stood on everything and why, as well as what a difficult place she was putting Harry in asking for his help on this. But, after a moment of guilt and reluctance, she realized that Harry was her only family, and that he was Ron's best friend. And as long as he didn't KNOW Ron was gone, she was going to ask him to keep helping her.

Harry showed up just before 6 that night with takeaway, which made Hermione ridiculously happy. While she had never been a big eater, the horrible taste of the food at St. Mungo's combined with the guilt of eating in front of Ron when he couldn't have anything had done nothing to help her gain back the weight she'd lost over the horcrux hunt. Ahead of time she had transfigured the bedside table into a slightly larger dining room table with room for them to eat and for her to take notes as they brainstormed. She made a point of having Ron in his wheelchair before Harry got there so he could sit at the table with them, even if he couldn't eat.

"It is so good to see you, Harry."

"You too," he said hugging Hermione and then placing his hand firmly on Ron's shoulder and smiling at him.

"The food smells amazing, where is it from?"

"There is a new muggle Thai restaurant about two blocks down from the Leaky, and I love it. I still haven't managed to convince Ginny to try it, but I knew this would be right up your alley, so I thought I would bring it tonight. I couldn't decide what to get so I just ordered small portions of several things so we could try it all."

Hermione beamed at him.

"Too bad Ron can't try any," Harry said absentmindedly. "While I don't know that his tastes are much more adventurous than his sister's I think he would love it if he would give it a shot."

"I know," grimaced Hermione. "I hate that he can't eat. Don't get me wrong, I hate that he can't talk or smile or move or anything too. But, I mean, it's Ron! No one in England has an appetite like his. Even with those horrid 'nutrition potions' they pour down his nose he's losing weight. That ridiculous Weasley metabolism. And he can't even taste things."

Harry was quiet for a moment, but was clearly pondering something.

_What are you up to, mate? _wondered Ron. _I've seen that look too many times. Something barmy usually comes out of your mouth after you look like that_.

"Hermione, what if – well – I mean – I know he's paralyzed, right?"

"Right," she affirmed. But then she recognized his expression too. "What, Harry? What are you thinking?"

"Well, obviously we didn't study a lot of biology or anatomy at Hogwarts, and I'm no healer..."

"Buuut," she prodded.

"But, if his nerves are what's paralyzed, I mean, are taste buds managed by nerves, or are they sort of their own thing?"

"Huh," she said sitting back to think for a moment. "I have no idea. I can't believe I never thought to ask that."

"I know chewing and swallowing are out. But, seems like there should be a way to at least let him taste, you know?"

_Potter you are a fucking genius and a saint,_ screamed Ron is his head.

"HARRY! That's brilliant! Why can't we just..."

Hermione jumped up and inspected the cartons Harry had brought in. She quickly tasted a small bite of chicken, blew on it again to cool it off and tasted it one more time. Deciding it was cool enough to not burn him, she turned to Ron.

"OK. Don't get too excited, Ronald. You still can't eat this. But, maybe you can at least taste it. I'm just going to rub it against your tongue a moment."

Then she gently opened his mouth and held the tiny piece of chicken against his tongue.

_Fucking hell that is the best goddamn thing I've ever tasted_, he moaned internally. _Wait, don't take it out, please let me have more of that. Oh come on, Hermione. Please! Don't be a tease. You can brush my teeth later or whatever just please let me try that again. For the love of Merlin, please!_

Hermione held the chicken in her hand and looked at Ron and then looked over to Harry, who was staring at his best mate's face.

"What do you think?" Hermione asked nervously.

"I," Harry paused. "I can't explain why I think this, but I almost would say he looks happier. But, that's barmy since not one single thing about his face has changed. But, something – I dunno – what do you think?"

Hermione was smiling. "I think the same thing. And I have no idea why either."

"Well, maybe you should try it again or something," Harry suggested.

_Yes, yes – what Harry said!_ Ron thought.

"Well, ok. At the very least it seems neutral, so it can't be a bad thing, I suppose."

With that she dipped a tiny piece of chicken back in the sauce, blew on it to cool it down and placed it on his tongue for a moment.

_Ohmigod that's so good._

"Still looks happy to me," Harry chuckled.

"Ron, I'm so sorry I never thought of this before," she said looking right at him. "We'll keep trying this, OK? Just, well, maybe not in front of Alice or anyone else for now. They already think I'm barmy."

"No one thinks you're barmy, Hermione."

"Oh, please, Harry," she said as she rolled her eyes. "People are talking about me the way they talked about you when you could hear the basilisk in the walls. Totally and utterly mad. It's ok, though. I really have gotten to a point where I just don't care what they think anymore. I know he's in there. I just do. And, well, turns out you weren't so insane that year after all. Maybe I'm not either."

_Not your best argument there, love, but I see where you're going with it,_ he thought.

"Well, you figured it out then," Harry said.

"Yeah, but you killed it when I was utterly petrified."

"Yeah," Harry laughed. "You know me, I always tried to steal the glory in the end."

Hermione laughed too, "Oh, yes, absolutely. You just love being in the papers. You always have been an attention hog."

"But, seriously, you were the one who figured that out. Why not this too?"

"Well – I don't exactly have the Hogwarts library at my disposal this time, you know."

"You could," Harry shrugged. "McGonagall would let you floo there anytime."

"Right, but I can't leave him, Harry. I can't."

"You can't lock yourself up here forever, Hermione. Maybe to save him, you have to leave for a bit."

_Nah, that's your M.O. Harry, not Hermione's. And Ginny was pissed for over a year about that. As much as I agree with you, I think it would kill her not to be needed 24 hours a day. And, honestly, I like it better with her here anyway. It's creepy in here alone with everyone thinking I'm better off dead._

"Are we still talking about me, Harry?"

"Wha? Oh, come on, Hermione. Yes, I'm still talking about you. For the love of, that's low don't you think?"

"Just clarifying," she quipped. "But, I'm not leaving. Look – I know everyone thinks I'm insane. And most people think it would be merciful to 'put him down' or something. Honestly, Harry, I am at a point where I would really fear for his life if I was gone. I cannot leave him."

_Sorry, but I agree with her, mate. _

Harry sighed and ran his fingers through his messy black hair, taking his glasses off to rub the bridge of his nose. Hermione looked in Ron's eyes with an expression he'd seen a thousand times. It was one that they often shared when they were both convinced he'd finally realized what he needed to do. She grinned at him, and Ron internally grinned back.

"OK. Gin'll kill me if she finds out. But, what if I came over for a few hours a couple days a week. I can do my case paperwork from here. And you can go to Hogwarts or wherever you need to go to while I stay with Ron."

"THANK YOU, HARRY!" she said as she jumped up, ran to the other side of the table and crushed him with an embrace.

_Yeah, cheers, mate_.

"But please don't tell Gin. She'll have my hide if she finds out."

"My lips are sealed, I won't say a word," she promised.

_Right. Me either_, Ron thought, chuckling at his own twisted sense of humor.

"Ok. Ok. So, where are you going to start? I know you have to have been thinking about things."

"Well, yes. I have been thinking a lot about everything. But, unfortunately I don't have a very good idea of where to start. I'm not sure if I should go at it from the perspective of researching dark curses and how to undo them, or if it's better to go at it from the perspective of a healer with simply working to regain function and figure out how to at least get him able to communicate. It's got to be awful for him, and I hate that I can't help." Then she turned to Ron, looked him in the eye and said, "I'm sorry. I know we talk like you're not here part of the time, and I am so sorry. I just – I don't know how to do this, and I can't imagine how awful this is for you. But, we're trying."

Ron could see Harry in his peripheral vision, and he could tell his friend still felt awkward when Hermione addressed him directly.

_It must be weird for him,_ Ron mused. _Must feel a bit like when we watched Harry and Luna talk to the thestrals we couldn't see, or like a child talking to an imaginary best friend. You don't know whether to play along, ask if they're crazy or try to correct them._

Harry paused when Hermione stopped talking. He shifted in his chair and then said, "So, maybe Hogwarts should be your first stop. Then maybe a medical library? Isn't there one here, or at least connected with their training programs?"

"Hmm. Good question. I'll have to ask Alice tomorrow. Maybe one of the elves could help me get things from there."

Harry smirked at her, and Ron mentally joined him. Without looking up, Hermione said, "You can both knock it off already. I get the irony. No need to point it out."

"Right," Harry snickered.

"Harry," Hermione asked, ignoring his lingering smirk, "do you think I should research things in a muggle medical library too? Or do you think I should stick to magic for now?"

Harry pondered the question, glancing over at Ron.

_Don't look at me, mate. This is definitely her area of expertise, not mine._

"I don't know, Hermione," he said earnestly. "I think you should just go where your brain tells you to go. Trust your instinct. It's always served us well so far."

She sighed, picked at her food a bit, and smiled. "Thank you, Harry. Thank you for all of this – for being supportive, for not giving up on him. Or on me."

"Hermione," Harry said as he reached out to hold her hand. "You two have given up everything for me. How could I ever not be here? You're my family. I'll be here if it goes how we hope. And I'll be here if it doesn't. But either way, I'll be here."

She smiled at him, sniffed a bit, clearly refusing to cry, and reached over to hold Ron's hand.

"Ok," she sniffed. "Thanks. But enough of this emotional stuff. Tell me about your work or something. I'm sure both Ron and I are a bit desperate for something interesting. The melodrama of the St. Mungo's staff's social lives isn't all it's cracked up to be."

_You have no idea, mate. It is utterly mind numbing. I had no idea witches talked so much about so little._

Harry laughed at Hermione's comment and indulged her with tales from his work as an auror and stories from the various Weasley family members. While they listened, Hermione continued to help Ron "taste" the food Harry had brought. Ron loved every minute.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

She'd found that when she actually left St. Mungo's the first time Harry had come to switch off with her, she was actually quite disoriented. For all intents and purposes, she had been living in his hospital room for nine months. Harry had said to take as much time as she needed, but it was a bit overwhelming to figure out what to do or where to go. So, the first time Harry came, instead of going to Hogwarts, she decided she wanted to go by her "home" first.

She stepped through the floo into her childhood living room and looked around the empty home. She and Ron had fixed it up and had been staying there before they'd gone to fetch her parents just after Christmas. She still didn't know what to do about them. But, she couldn't waste her time today thinking about that.

First she went to wash her and Ron's clothes and get their laundry going. She'd been doing it in the hospital, but she knew they hadn't been getting truly clean. While the clothes were washing themselves, she went upstairs and packed up some things she wanted to take back with her to the hospital. First she focused on clothes, but also took some time to get some soft blankets and pillows, shrinking everything down and putting them in her beaded bag. Finally she went to her parents' old office and looked over their old dental and medical texts. She wasn't sure there would be much she could use, but she decided it couldn't hurt to take them anyway. She could always bring them back if they weren't helpful. So, she shrunk down around a dozen medical texts and placed them in her bag too. Finally, she went to the kitchen and looked around. She pulled down her father's favorite mug and her mum's favorite mug and took them both with her as well.

As the clothes would take longer to be cleaned, she decided to run out and do some shopping, but she wanted to stick to muggle stores for now. She went to a few stores, including one to find her favorite soap and shampoo and some other toiletries for both she and Ron. Then she headed to a muggle market to pick up her favorite tea and some of Ron's favorite biscuits. Once the basic necessities were handled, she headed to a bookstore her father had taken her to many times. It was near a university campus, so it had rows and rows of books ranging from fiction to medical texts. She let herself linger for a few minutes in the fiction area, finally breaking down and selecting a few books to read for fun. If she had to read one more copy of Witch Weekly she knew she would lose her mind. She decided to pick up a few books she could read aloud that Ron might enjoy as well. Eventually, she wandered over to peruse the basic science and medical texts, selecting a few she thought would be good primers. She also selected a few books she found in a section called "Caregivers." These books seemed focused on practical ways to help patients recovering from strokes or other serious illnesses, both during their time in hospital and once they were able to move to a care home or even to their own homes. While she wanted to look at more books, she told herself she had more than enough to start with. So, she grabbed some notebooks and muggle pens as well and then went to pay for her many purchases, grateful for those monetary awards they'd been given for their service even though they had made her uncomfortable at the time.

The books selected and paid for, she shrunk everything down and placed them in her bag and went back by the house to finish the laundry. Standing there in her living room she looked around the room. She had a sense that she _should_ feel something, nostalgia maybe, or well – anything. But, in all reality, she simply felt the need to get back to Ron. She smiled to herself knowing that for her, home was now wherever he was. Knowing that, she checked she had everything in her beaded bag and stepped back into the floo.

She'd been gone less than four hours, but she found that she really missed Ron. It was the longest she'd been separated from him in months, and she was surprised by how strongly she felt his absence. While she was adamant in that he was still there with them, it wasn't as if they were interacting in their time together as much as she was talking to him and caring for him. Knowing that, she was perplexed by how physically she felt his absence when she was off running errands. Smiling, she approached the hospital room.

She peaked her head in, half expecting to see Harry and Ron playing chess despite knowing how impossible that was. Instead she saw Ron in his wheelchair as she had left him. Harry had placed him next to himself at the transfigured table where he had all of his paperwork spread out. Hermione sensed that Harry didn't talk to Ron much – or maybe even at all – but nonetheless she was grateful for the chance to get out while trusting Ron was safe. And, she reminded herself, it wasn't like those two were very chatty all those years they spent together growing up anyway.

"Hi, Harry," she said quietly as she entered.

He startled at the noise and smiled at her. "Hey, Hermione. Did you have a good outing?"

"Fantastic actually. I guess I hadn't realized how long it had been since I'd been out in the real world you know?"

He smiled again. "Well, I think even if we weren't doing clandestine research you should plan to get out regularly. If nothing else it will give you material to tell Ron stories about. I can see how the nurse gossip gets old really fast."

"Oh no, was it bad?"

"Apparently Nancy found Brandon in the supply closet with Jane. Chaos ensued."

Hermione laughed, covering her eyes with her hands. "Sorry you were subjected to that. They take their relationship gossip extremely seriously around here," she giggled.

"Yes. I can see that. Perhaps Skeeter did her training here when she was younger."

Hermione laughed out loud and then came into the room, put her bag down and kissed Ron on the cheek, letting her hand linger on his shoulder.

"Were you able to get much work done?"

"Actually, yes. No one knows I'm here, so I was able to have a few hours of uninterrupted work for once. It was brilliant."

"Good."

"Did you get some research done?"

"Well, I actually got errands done. But, the errands included a stop at a muggle bookshop. I decided I needed to learn basic medical information first, and then I'll figure out the magic layered on top of that next. But, I'm sure it won't surprise you to know I picked up a few extra books along the way."

"No," Harry laughed as he shook his head. "It would have surprised me if you hadn't. But, I need to pack up and get out of here. Wish I could stay and visit, but I need to go back to the office and file these reports before I head home."

"Thank you, Harry. It's been a great afternoon. I really appreciate it."

"Sure thing, Hermione. I'll owl you soon, and we'll figure out the timing for your next venture back into the real world. I love you. You keep hanging in there, alright?"

She nodded, surprised that she didn't feel weepy for once. "We're going to be ok. I feel like we are on the right track now at least."

"I think so to," he smiled. Packing his things he hugged Hermione, smiled and nodded at Ron and headed out.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Ron watched the door close behind his best mate as he left and watched Hermione's expression as she stared at the back of the door for a moment. It had been strange not having her around that afternoon. While being with anyone 24 hours a day could get annoying at times, he'd really missed her when she was gone. Harry hadn't spoken to him at all when he'd been there. He didn't pretend he wasn't there or anything, but just seemed awkward like he didn't know what to do. But then again, Harry always had been rather socially awkward.

Hermione turned to him and beamed a huge smile as she practically jumped out of her skin declaring, "Ron, I had THE BEST day!"

He felt a wave of guilt in his chest when she said that, as if he was keeping her prisoner here with him. And he began to wonder if he shouldn't just let everything go so she could get on with her life. He loved her so much, but it hurt to know she was this happy having been away from him when he had been missing her so desperately. He watched her excitedly pulling things out of that blessed beaded bag and laying them out on his bed in piles that clearly made sense to her. Then she moved his chair around so he could see the bed more clearly, then sat on the bed near one of the many piles of books, shifting so her face was in his line of site.

"Now," she said in the bossy school girl voice he hadn't heard in quite a while. "I ran a bunch of errands today and will tell you all about them in a minute. But, let's look at the books first."

_Hermione Granger prioritizing books above all else? What is this world coming too?_ he laughed to himself.

He listened to her ramble on about the books and the logic behind her approach and rationale for looking first at muggle medical texts. He tried to pay attention, he really did as he knew this was all for him. But she was talking a mile a minute using words he wasn't familiar with. He wasn't sure if they were muggle things or just fancy medical words he didn't know, but when she started talking about re-igniting neuron pathways, he tuned her out.

Over the past few months he'd actually gotten quite good at more or less turning off one of his senses at a time. The hearing had been first, as he'd had plenty of practice at that tuning out his mum, siblings, and professors for years, and admittedly Hermione when she nagged him about revising for exams and such. After he'd found himself in this ridiculous predicament, he'd noticed that while he couldn't move, his other senses had heightened. He could hear and smell things much more strongly and in a much more nuanced way. And, when he mentally blocked one out, the other senses increased again. So, tuning Hermione out he focused on smell for a moment and realized that there was the faint whiff of an old, familiar smell that he couldn't place. On every inhale he would run through the different memories of what it could be, and then it finally hit him. The smell was his favorite muggle biscuits! She must have picked some up when she was out. Oh Merlin, he hoped she would let him taste some. Just the thought of it had his mouth watering.

"Oops, let me get a flannel and catch that," Hermione muttered as she wiped a cloth under Ron's mouth.

_Hmm. Those biscuits have my mouth watering more than I thought,_ he mused. _Hope she gets the hint._

She didn't.

Hermione continued to natter away about the new books for nearly an hour until the evening nurse, Ellen, came in with his nutritional potions. Before he'd realized it, the whole evening had been consumed with the various details of his care, and it was time for bed. He'd long ago given up hope of Hermione expanding the bed and sleeping next to him as he longed for. But he was still holding out hope she would at least transform the side chair into a better bed than the reclining thing she usually curled up on. But when he saw her curl up on the recliner and re-open the muggle neurology medical text he internally sighed and knew that once again she wasn't going to really take care of herself like she needed to.

It was strange to not be able to close your eyes on your own. In many ways he wanted that back almost more than the ability to smile or talk. Though – the talking thing would be amazing. But he would love to close his eyes in moments like this where Hermione is still ready to read for the evening and he was done. Or better yet, the ability to open his eyes on his own so when he did wake up in the middle of the night he could watch her sleep. He missed that. But while he depended on others to open and shut his eyes for the day, he was grateful there was a spell that helped him blink, otherwise his eyes would be so horribly dry he wouldn't know how to handle it.

Before he knew it, his mind had drifted back to that horrible day when it had all gone to hell. He knew it had been too easy to find her parents and too easy to reverse the curse. In the months since then he'd realized that she'd been so relieved to have found them alive that she wasn't really thinking clearly or she would have seen it too.

They'd both hoped to go to Australia that first summer after they returned to The Burrow. But, per usual, life had other plans. At first they were unable to leave the country as they were needed to testify for what felt like a million Death Eater trials. While those were winding their way through the court system, McGonagall had offered a condensed course of study for any of the students from his year that had wanted to sit for NEWTs the first week of December. Of course Hermione wanted to do that, so she took the floo each day to Hogwarts where she, Neville and a handful of other students crammed a year of learning into a few months. Ron and Harry both declined the offer once Kingsley had said he would waive the NEWT requirements if they wanted to be aurors. As they wouldn't be able to leave for auror training until after the trials were done, Ron had focused on helping WWW get back on its feet. George was pretty traumatized, obviously, but he didn't want to lose the shop. So, when Hermione would head off to study ancient runes he would head off to re-structure the inventory of puking pastilles. George tried to be helpful, but the shop really opened again thanks to the work he, Lee Jordan and Angelina Johnson had put into it. And, thanks to those initial efforts in the summer, they were back in business in time for both the back to school rush and the crucial Christmas season.

While Hermione technically lived at her parents' house and Ron theoretically lived at The Burrow, most nights found them eating at The Burrow and sleeping at her house. It was one of those things where he knew his parents knew he apparated each night to her home, and they simply pretended to be none the wiser, which he appreciated. While he understood their rules in the context of a normal life, he and Hermione had never had a normal life. And, though still teenagers, they had both seen too much, sacrificed too much and carried too many burdens to pretend that they were still innocent school children. They needed each other to continue healing in those months as they both learned how to transition from war to recovery.

In early December, just after she finished her NEWTs, they finally heard through Kingsley that the Australian aurors had located her parents in Sydney. As much as they both wanted to go immediately, Hermione had pulled Ron aside and said they could and should wait until after Christmas. She knew how important it was to have a successful season at the shop, and she also knew how important it would be to have all of them at The Burrow for that first Christmas without Fred. Ron had been so touched by and grateful for her offer. He knew she'd been desperate to reunite with her parents, so the sacrifice of staying apart a few extra weeks when they didn't have to was incredibly meaningful.

Two days after Christmas they'd taken a series of portkeys to finally arrive in Sydney where, he had been surprised to discover – much to Hermione's amusement – that it was summer in Australia. They spent a day at the hotel adjusting to the time change, with Hermione reading and re-reading the chapters on spell reversal and practicing the wand movements. First thing the next morning they headed to the residential address the Australian aurors had given to them. Ron had asked about whether they would be at work, but Hermione insisted they would never have their dental clinic open the week between Christmas and New Year. He shrugged and decided it would not be helpful to point out that this was the Wilkins and not the Grangers and she didn't really know what they would do. So, he simply followed.

He'd wondered many times if that would have made any difference. It is hard to have nothing but time and your thoughts. There were so many moments that he could have said or done something differently, and would any one of those have changed everything? Unless he could get his hands on a time turner, he figured he would never know.

He still hadn't figured out where their exact mistake – or mistakes - had been. But, in replaying the events he had come to the conclusion that the Australian aurors they'd worked with were one of the key problems. But, he hadn't figured out if they were dirty agents, polyjuiced, imperiosed, or if they were on the up and up and set up by someone else. However they ended up at the flat, it certainly seemed to be the Wilkins' flat. And the couple that answered the door there certainly looked like the Wilkins. But that's where it ended.

Hermione had been overcome when she saw her parents' faces again. She immediately started panicking, so Ron had made up a story about how they were hoping to ask them some questions regarding a neighborhood meeting about a park, and then they were invited in for tea. That's when Ron noticed their faces looked a bit off to him. It wasn't their appearance – that was perfect. It had been their eyes somehow. Even now Ron wasn't sure if they had been imperiosed or if they were polyjuiced. But, as the Wilkins sat on the sofa with tea, Hermione confunded both and went to remove the spell. But then suddenly they'd been surrounded by Death Eaters. Hermione was frantic trying to protect all three of the people she loved, but they had been disarmed before either one even had a chance to cast a single spell.

Instantly both he and Hermione had been apparated to some abandoned warehouse. Then they had both been thrown into some sort of muggle shipping container where the door had been both sealed and locked. But, at least they'd had a few minutes together, which Ron realized later he was grateful for. They'd had a moment together to say what needed to be said. They'd wasted a good few minutes trying to get out, but eventually realized they were really stuck this time, as this time there was no magic mirror, no Harry, no Luna, no Ollivander, no Dean, no Griphook, no Dobby, or even Draco. They were alone. In a sealed room with no wands and no hope.

So instead, Ron pulled her to him and said, "Sod it. Let's not waste this time ok. I love you, Hermione Granger. I always have and always will. I'm so, so sorry I couldn't keep you safe. Please, please let me take whatever it is they are trying to give you ok? Please, I am literally begging you. I can't do it again, Hermione. I can't. I won't be able to live through watching you be tortured again. Please, love, please let me take it. I'm so sorry, Hermione. I am so sorry I can't be stronger. But please, please promise me." He'd been on his knees at that point, forehead pressed to her tiny stomach, and she'd been sobbing as hard as he was.

"I love you so much, Ron. Always have. And I am not planning on that changing anytime soon. I'm not promising to let you sacrifice yourself. But I'll promise to let you take the brunt in the end if that is what it comes to. But I'm not giving up yet, and you can't either. We've always fought with each other, but we've always, always fought for each other even harder. Promise me you'll keep fighting until your last breath, alright? Even if I'm not still with you. Promise me!"

In the end they'd held each other tightly and both promised things they weren't sure they could honor, but they were each desperate to ease the suffering of the other. They'd shared one last passionate kiss, and then it was suddenly was over.

Some of the lower ranking Death Eaters came to fetch them, and they'd tried to overpower them, but it had been to no avail. Then he'd begged for them to let her go and just keep him. The masked guards had dragged them out of their steel dungeon and...well, he really didn't like to think of all that had happened next. They'd both been tortured within an inch of their lives with the Death Easters ironically embracing both magical and muggle methods.

"Too hard to watch her in pain, is it?" one had asked Ron, and then the bastard had promptly cast a spell at Hermione which had her immediately buckling in pain.

It had only gone downhill from there. They'd separated them to two sides of the room so that Hermione and Ron couldn't help but watch the other in agony as they were beaten and cursed. Ron wasn't sure how long that had gone on, but at some point he'd finally yelled out, "Just tell us what it is that you want!"

That's when he'd seen the one clearly in charge, but still behind a mask, stride pompously into the room.

"Silence," he'd screamed, casting a crucio at Hermione which brought them both to their knees. "Enough of this," the man had declared. "I'm going to cast a sound shield now, so you can't hear each other, but don't worry, you can still watch each other suffer."

"No!" they'd both screamed on impulse. But the shield was up after that, and then they were oddly silenced from each other.

Ron thought he'd recognized the man's voice, but initially couldn't place it. But then he strode over to Ron. With his back to Hermione, the man calmly pulled the mask down and smirked at him.

Ron was shocked to see it was Crabbe senior who stoically said, "I simply want to watch you suffer as much as my son did. And since you apparently were able to watch him suffer as he was burned alive, it is only appropriate for you to watch each other suffer as well."

"He started the fiendfyre! There was nothing we could do. We tried to rescue all three of them, but he had already been overtaken by the flames," protested Ron.

This comment had earned him a crucio.

"I loved my son," Crabbe had said. "But I also know he had, shall we say, limited range in some of his talents. He could not possibly have been able to cast fiendfyre. But then you, blood traitor, you were quite talented. Would have been easy for you to do and blame him? Wouldn't it?"

"What?" cried Ron. "Trust me, I was never talented. And I was never that mental. You can't control fiendfyre! It would have been suicidal."

"Shut up," he yelled, casting another crucio leaving Ron gasping for breath. "Suicide us going to be only something you can dream of from now on. I have something special for you, blood traitor. A little idea to help prolong my enjoyment of this little exercise."

"Just kill me already," Ron spat.

"Oh no. That's much too merciful. What I have planned for you involves a lifetime of punishment. You will watch the torture of your mudblood girlfriend. As for her, she will be told that she gets to watch me obliviate you and paralyze you, but that's not what I actually have planned. No, the Dark Lord had me developing and experimenting with certain curses these past few years, and this is one I've been simply itching to try on the right subject. You shall be imprisoned for the rest of your life in your own body. You will be paralyzed; you will be unable to communicate in anyway; and you will be unable to control any part of your own body, but you will still feel every bit of pain, touch and agony. And your mind will be perfectly intact. Instead of a merciful death you will be forced to live tortured by the knowledge that all of those who love you will look at you and see nothing but a rotting shell that is neither alive nor dead. It's much like a dementor's kiss, except you don't lose your soul but instead have to watch life move on, the rest of the world none the wiser that you are right there in front of them, permanently entombed in your own skin. You'll watch your bitch leave you, fall in love with someone else and have his children, all while you are forced to watch."

Ron remembered the panic rising in his heart at hearing what Crabbe had in store for him. He tried to control his breath and try to focus on controlling the bile in his throat. He looked up at Hermione, who was staring at him, screaming for him as she was restrained by two masked Death Eaters, arms pinned behind her with one yanking her hair to force her face up at him. He couldn't hear a sound from her, but Ron remembered how distracted he was in that moment by her hair, wondering if he would ever feel the tickle of her amazing curls against his skin again. But his thought was disrupted by Crabbe's continuing threats.

"But to prevent you from just quickly giving up and willing yourself to die, I've decided to throw in a little something extra to keep things interesting. I am going to tell you the counter spell. And then I am going to remove that memory," he laughed in that way that waivered between evil and insane. "So you will remember that you once knew, but that you don't know anymore. Fun isn't it?"

Ron inwardly cringed as he recalled this moment. In his memory he could see the exact second where it went choppy and hazy. It was like he could stand at the closed door to the answer, but couldn't pass through. He had to give it that bastard, though, it was both brilliant magic and a brilliantly evil punishment that allowed the smallest flame of hope to remain.

The memory popped back into clarity then with Crabbe sneering and laughing, waving the captured memory in a little vile that he stoppered and dropped in the pocket of his robe. At that point he'd decided to stop wasting his remaining moments on Crabbe and looked back to Hermione, trying to communicate to her, though he knew the sound shield was still up.

"HE'S LYING. IT'S NOT OBLIVIATION. IT IS PARALYSIS AND THERE IS A COUNTER CURSE," he screamed.

Her eyes were locked on his, tears rolling down her cheeks, mixed with blood dripping from a gash on her forehead. It was an amazing mix of love, fear, determination and devotion all rolled into one, which, in retrospect, pretty much summed up his witch. Then as he saw Crabbe lift his wand at him again, and with his last controlled moment he screamed, "I'LL ALWAYS LOVE Y-" and then the curse hit him.

The first sensation was a blast of agony to his brain, and then he collapsed, unable to do anything – even breathe. He felt panic again, and then he was hit with another curse, and suddenly, his breath and pulse were back, though clearly no longer under his control.

"A little spell to keep you alive until a healer can pronounce you a vegetable, blood traitor," he laughed.

Then Ron felt himself propped against something so he was facing Hermione, and had to watch her endure cruicios and beatings, being utterly impotent to help even by screaming encouragement. It was worse than hell. He wished desperately he could remove that memory as this time was more haunting than Malfoy Manor had been. But in many ways it also made him fall in love with her even more, as she was so fucking strong. As it wound down, Crabbe, with his mask back in place, grabbed Hermione crudely by her breasts and reached his hand down the front of Hermione's trousers. Ron was in agony looking on, unable to help or even close his eyes. Crabbe ripped Hermione's shirt open and then without a second thought threw her to the ground, kicked her in the stomach and spit on her.

"Don't get too wet, Mudblood. I wouldn't dirty myself fucking such a worthless creature. Bestiality is below me, and you are nothing but a dirty bitch." Ron felt flames of both anger and relief flood him.

The next thing he knew, the silence shield was down and he could hear Hermione whimpering on the floor, breaking his heart further. Then Crabbe told the Death Eaters to clear out and turned to leave, at the last minute throwing their wands back on the floor between them and then disapparated. The fact he gave them their wands had shocked Ron, but he realized that neither of them could even get to them. He was paralyzed, and she was so beaten that she was unable to move. So he was forced to sit there, propped against a damn pole watching her try to move as she moaned, whimpered and cried.

He had no idea how long it took, as to him it felt like years, but eventually Hermione was able to crawl over to the wands and then finally to him. She held him and sobbed for a long time, stroking his face and clutching at his chest. Sobbed isn't the word, wailed was more accurate. It reminded him of his Mum and George kneeling next to Fred's body. She tried many times to cast a patronus for help but was unable to conjure up the happiness required. At some point she had healed some of their wounds and was trying to talk herself into side along apparition, but was too scared. Finally, being Hermione, she calmed herself down and became hyper-focused. She closed her eyes tightly, holding Ron securely in her arms. And, like a fucking miracle worker, she managed to apparate them to their Australian hotel room. Landing on their bed, she broke into sobs again. Eventually she tried to get to the bathroom to fetch them water, but her bones were so broken she couldn't do it. After several more rounds of weeping and then trying to calm down, she closed her eyes and began speaking out loud about all of their best moments together, and finally was able to send a patronus to Harry telling him to come immediately and send help. At that, she passed out in the bed, still holding him, his head propped up against her chest. As he lay there in her arms waiting for his best mate, he vacillated between awe of her skill and composure and utter panic and desperation over what would happen. He was acutely aware of the witch holding him who he was unable to protect yet again, but he was also in extreme pain. The shock and adrenaline had managed to block it until then, but once they were both safe, the crushing head pain became hard to ignore. It seemed highly unfair to be both paralyzed and feel pain, he'd scoffed. But, nevertheless, there he was.

Eventually Harry showed up with what felt like half the British Auror department, and only then had Ron finally allowed himself to pass out. The next chunk of time was a blur. He must have been unconscious for quite some time, but eventually came to realize he was in a hospital room at St. Mungo's. From what he could pull together, they must have tried to put Hermione in a different room, but she'd become hysterical and refused to leave his side. So, they had both been in a room together for some time while she recovered from her beatings and curses and regrew her bones. During that time Ron recalled the room always being full of people – his parents, siblings, healers, aurors and Merlin knows who else. But as the weeks crawled on, both the hope and the number of people sitting vigil began to dwindle.

At some point they tried to tell Hermione she was healed and to send her home or to The Burrow, but she absolutely refused. Harry, Ginny, his parents – all of them tried to convince her that it would be best for her to get out of the hospital, but she was adamant. She was staying there until both she and Ron could leave together. That was that. And it was not up for discussion.

Those first weeks, and even the first few months, both he and Hermione had been drowning in anger, hatred, self-pity and despair. But as time had gone on, he had watched Hermione try to wrestle those demons, and begin to claw out of the negative trap.

One night maybe three months into their stay Harry had come to visit, and he finally got Hermione to open up. He'd pushed on her lack of vengeance, and Hermione had simply said, "I've finally realized that would make them win. I am not going to live full of hate. I'm here. Ron's here. You're here. I love each of you as much, if not more, than ever – and for today that is where I am. I can't think about tomorrow yet. I'm trying to just be present in this moment. I'm not necessarily always successful at that being the planner I am, but I am trying, and it is helping. A lot."

Ever since she'd said that, Ron had tried to do the same and had found that she was right, as usual. It really was helping. He wasn't anywhere as good at it as Hermione, but that was something he was quite used to. And, he couldn't be more grateful for his stubborn, defiant witch.

Ron's thoughts were snapped back to the present moment when Hermione finally closed her book, reached over to gently close his eyes and put out the light so they could both sleep. She was out quickly, and he could hear her muttering words from the new medical texts in her sleep, and it made him inwardly smile. He really wished he could open his eyes and watch her sleep for a few minutes. But, instead he enjoyed the vision in his head of the woman he loved, curled up on the recliner, probably an open book fallen against her chest and a wand stuck in her crazy curls.

He tried to re-focus his mind on good things so he wouldn't have nightmares after having let his mind wander back to that horrible night. So, as Hermione periodically muttered words like "neurons," "cranial infarction," and "neuroplasticity," in her sleep, he let his mind drift back to their days in the Gryffindor common room where he and Harry would play chess by the fire while she read, often muttering words he didn't know. And eventually, he was able to drift off to sleep with good memories floating in his mind.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Hermione had spent much of the last few days reading and re-reading the muggle medical texts. But, she had also made a point of getting both she and Ron out of the hospital room each day. Just the mental lift from her afternoon outside of St. Mungo's convinced her that she needed to be disciplined at forcing them to get out each day. Some days she would wheel him up to the hospital café or back out to the roof where they had been on the picnic with Harry and Ginny. And somedays they walked around all of the various units, except for the infectious one – Hermione didn't like to even go to that floor.

She found that she didn't like to be on their unit outside of Ron's room. It was just depressing to be on the unit she had associated with hopeless cases all these years. And frankly, if Lockhart tried to give her one more picture she knew she would lose it altogether. The irony that Lockhart had accidentally obliviated himself while trying to obliviate Ron, who was now stuck three rooms down on the Thickney Ward had not been lost on her or Harry. She was so mortified that she had ever daydreamed of that atrocious man.

Yet while Lockhart was an irritant, she found the blank stares of Frank and Alice Longbottom utterly unnerving. She had eventually discovered she would inevitably have nightmares every time she accidentally ran into one of them. So, she tried to avoid them as much as possible. But this made her feel horribly guilty, as they were Neville's parents. She hoped that wherever her parents were, if they were actually still alive, that people were kind to them no matter what state they were in. So the fact that she couldn't be kind to the parents of one of her dearest friends was hard to bare. But she had been at the receiving end of the cruciatus curse more than any other witch or wizard alive. And to see what she had been so close to becoming two different times was just too hard.

Neville had been extremely kind about the whole situation. He came frequently to visit his parents, and then would visit with Hermione and Ron as well. Hermione had overheard one of the nurses ask him why he didn't visit with them all at once or encourage Hermione to visit with his parents more often. The tears had come to her eyes as he'd simply replied, "I couldn't protect her during the war, but you better believe I will do anything in my power now to make her life just the smallest bit less difficult. Hermione Granger has had to face the loss of her parents, the all but physical death of the man she loves and then multiple times had to endure torture so horrific that no other witch or wizard ever survived such a thing. She at least deserves a chance at occasionally sleeping without nightmares. And I would assume that there isn't anyone who works on this ward who shouldn't treat her with the same respect."

She had been so embarrassed and had pretended she hadn't heard a thing. But she had noticed the staff all treated her with greater respect after Neville's outburst. Most of them had seen him grow from the awkward chubby, shy boy that she had first met on the train to the war hero and auror he was today, and Neville's word carried great impact at St. Mungo's. It was the one place where Hermione mused that someone "outranked" Harry in his influence on people's attitudes and behaviors. Though, she chuckled inwardly, Neville would never admit it.

Yesterday had been a gorgeous day outside, so Hermione had pushed Ron in his wheelchair up to the roof again in hopes of similar weather. She'd brought her tea and one of the "fun" books she had bought at the muggle bookstore to read aloud to Ron.

"So," she said with a smile. "I bought two muggle books for us to read together. The first is a collection of mystery stories that feature this famous muggle detective character called Sherlock Holmes. I've read some of his other books, but I'd never gotten around to reading this collection. They are set around 100 years ago in muggle England, but everyone talks about how great they are. The second is one that I've wanted to read for a while. It's by an American author I've admired for some time. But, it's long, and I am guessing you'll prefer the who done-it ones more, so unless you say otherwise, we'll start with Sherlock."

With that she sat on the ground near his feet, leaned her back and head against his leg and opened the book to the first story.

She chuckled, "Well, you aren't going to believe this. I mean I know you know I've always had a bit of a thing for gingers. And the first story in the book is – and I promise I'm not kidding here – the first story is called _The Red-Headed League_."

She read aloud, stopping to sip at tea every now at then, or to make a few comments of her own to Ron about how the story was unfolding. As she finished the story, explaining the bank robbery heist, she fell into a fit of laughter. Uncontrolled giggles captured her, tears rolling down her face, and she had to grip her side as she couldn't stop laughing. After several minutes she regained her composure and stood up, dusting off the dirt from her denim trousers and wiped the tears of laugher off of her cheeks.

"Phew," she laughed, shaking her head in disbelief as she looked at Ron in the face. "Can't remember the last time I laughed that hard. People will certainly think I'm mad now if they didn't before." She was quiet for a few minutes, trying to recall the last time she gave herself over to uncontrolled laughter.

"Wow – yeah, it's been years. I'm horrified to say it could have been your brothers' amazing departure from Hogwarts since I laughed like that! Need to figure out how to do that more often. Your brothers were always trying to get me to understand how important laughter was. I was a little too focused on revising. Well, and keeping Harry from getting killed. But turns out they knew something I didn't. I feel great. And, honestly Ron, you look pretty good yourself. I mean, you look the same, but it's almost like there is a smile in your eyes. So, I am going with that. I know Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did not write this book as a comedy. But, really, I just happened to pick the mystery about the ginger and the bank robbery? Seems a bit too close to home, no?" she asked as she started chuckling again, this time sitting on his lap and snuggled against his chest.

She sat there quietly on his lap, her head against his chest listening to his strong heartbeat. Listening to his heart beat had always made her feel safe, and today was no different. Today the sun was shining, they were up in the fresh air on the roof of the building, and the sounds of busy muggle London seemed to blow in on an occasional breeze like a background concert. She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. In the closed-in hospital room it could just smell so clinical. But, out here she could smell his aftershave and that wonderful smell underneath it which was just Ron.

She let her mind take her back to the first morning she ever woke up in his arms with her head on his chest. She had slowly emerged from the best sleep she'd had in months. It was one of the sleeps where you awake so rested you are practically disoriented. Well, she really was disoriented, but she somehow felt safe. She was still sore and in pain from the battle the day before, but her cheek rested against Ron's chest, and she could hear his heart beat reminding her with each thump that he was alive. He had made it. The comforting smell of him, the soft feel of his practically threadbare Chudley Cannons shirt against her skin, the warm feel of his body pressed against hers. They had survived and would get their shot at happily ever after.

She remembered feeling him stir against her, slowly waking, and feeling guilty that as she was reveling in her happiness he would soon awake and be hit with the grief of having just lost his brother. Internally chastising herself, she squinted her eyes shut must have instinctively shaken her head.

But then she'd felt his large, rough hand push her curls away so he could look in her eyes. And when his blue orbs caught hers, she saw nothing both love and gratitude.

"Tell me you're not regretting this," he'd whispered in his incredibly sexy, low, gravelly morning voice as he propped on his elbow so he could see her better.

"Oh, God, no!" she'd said, reaching her hand to his face, feeling the red stubble catch against her skin. "I was just feeling guilty about how ridiculously happy I am."

He'd smiled, gently rubbing his thumb against her cheek. "Not pretending it's not going to be a really shite day. But, as for this," he'd said, gesturing back and forth between the two of them. "This is a dream come true." Then he'd laughed, his perfect lips pulling into that adorable crooked grin. "Actually haven't quite convinced myself I'm not actually still asleep and just dreaming it all up."

"I know what you mean," she'd said with a shy smile as she ran her foot up against the back of his calf.

His eyes had clenched shut and he groaned, holding her tighter to him. "Fuck, Hermione, you have no idea what that does to me."

"Really?" she'd squeaked, in disbelief that he was actually remotely as attracted to her as she was to him.

"You really don't know, do you?" he'd said in equal disbelief as he gazed into her eyes.

She hadn't said a word but instead she'd just stared at him. Ron had shaken his head, which had confused her for a moment. Then with one arm he'd reached for his wand, closing the curtains around his four poster in the Gryffindor seventh year boys' dorm room, blocking out the view of Neville, Seamus, Dean, Harry and Ginny in the other beds, cast muffialato and stashed his wand back under his the pillow. Then in one swift movement he'd rolled Hermione over so she was fully on her back, his one arm still propping him up on his elbow while his hand cradled her face and the other hand went immediately around the back of her waist so that she was all at once cradled in his arms and staring up at him. She'd stared at him, eyes wide, and she was sure, quite dark as she felt for the first time the partial weight of him resting between her legs.

"Hermione, I've been such a prat for so long I don't think we have enough time for me to list everything I need to apologize for. But for as long as I can remember, I have been crazy about you. And when I was younger and an even bigger prat, I didn't know what to do with those feelings. I just knew you were special, and I wanted all of that incredible energy you gave off to be focused on me, even if the only way I could get it was by provoking some stupid row. And then my body started to react to you before I could put all the pieces together. And then somewhere along the way I realized I was head over heels for my best friend. But I knew you could never feel the same for me, so I had to hide how insanely mad I was for you."

He paused for a moment, chewing on his lips as Hermione knew he did when he was trying to work out the words to express his thoughts. But she couldn't just wait for him to continue and then asked in disbelief again, "Really?"

He'd openly laughed at her, stared down lovingly at her and then said, "Always," as he'd lowered his head, capturing her stunned lips in his.

She'd been completely swept up in the moment. It was only their second kiss, and this time there was no war going on around them, no Harry trying to hurry them up, no threat of imminent death. It was just the two of them in the cocooned bed, finally having a chance. And unlike the day before where Hermione had stunned him with her unexpected kiss, this time Ron was in the lead, and Hermione loved it. She suddenly realized that as much as she was always taking control of things, she loved that he was the one leading here. She loved that he was cradling her, nuzzling her nose, gently opening her lips with his tongue to slowly and lovingly kiss her. She gave herself completely over to his lead, and followed his pace and example of nibbling on ears, exploring his neck and scraping her nails through his hair.

When he'd finally pulled back gently for a breath and rested his forehead against hers he'd said, "Believe me now?"

She'd giggled – actually giggled like a seven year old girl – and gave him a blushing nod in response.

"I love you, Hermione. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to say it properly, but I've always loved you. I don't expect you to say it back, I – I just am so grateful to finally have a chance to try to become a wizard worthy of someone as amazing as you."

"Oh, Ron," she'd laughed as she'd instinctively moved her knees up to cradle his hips. "You have always been that wizard, you ridiculous man. I have loved you for years. It's only ever been you. But I always thought I was too buried in books and not nearly pretty enough for someone like you."

With that his jaw had actually opened in disbelief as he stared at her, trying to comprehend what she'd said. "What?!" he'd gawked. "Hermione, you are the most gorgeous, most fit and beautiful woman I've ever seen. Do you have any idea how many nights I have been awake in this dorm fantasizing about this exact moment? Never imagined it with anyone else – only you – just never thought it would come true. You are so amazing, I wouldn't change one single thing about you. You're perfect, Hermione. Absolutely perfect."

Now her stare shifted from shock to blatant disbelief. "Maybe you suffered some sort of head injury yesterday. No one sees me that way, Ron. I am nowhere as gorgeous as-"

Her argument was cut off by his lips in a passionate kiss. And then he mumbled into her ear, "Can we fight about this later? I have the sexiest witch alive in my bed right now so I'm a little busy at the moment."

She gasped and nodded, "mm hmmm" as she felt her hips rock towards him and her leg wrap around his waist of its own accord. He had groaned back and let more of his weight fall on her, and for the first time she felt his hardening length against her thigh. After that any questioning of his attraction to her flew out the window, and all she could do was focus on how amazing he felt and how happy she was.

They hadn't had a lot of time together that morning, but over the next few months had truly enjoyed exploring the physical side of their relationship. And, she had finally understood what Ginny had meant calling their fighting foreplay for all these years. She laughed and shook her head at the memory, and then she placed her hand on his chest and sat up to see his eyes again.

"I've always loved the sound of your heart beating in your chest, Ron. It makes me feel so safe. I know it's mad to say that now it our current situation, but it still does. And I've just come to the realization that I need to spend more time with my head on your chest. I'd forgotten how soothing it is."

She laughed at herself and then glanced at her watch. "Oh, I didn't realize how late it was. We need to get back if we are going to fit your physiotherapy routine in before dinner."

And with that, she soon had them wheeling back to the hospital room and back to their routine.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

It had been a week or so since Hermione's first venture to the muggle bookshop. She had started keeping track of all of her notes and lists of things she wanted to research for her second outing. The previous time, Harry had come again to stay with Ron while Hermione ventured out. This time she had come back with both muggle and magical books. The muggle ones seemed to be written by family members of stroke patients or paralysis patients and offered a variety of tips and tricks, though Ron was guessing muggle tips weren't going to be all that helpful. The text books, Hermione had said, were magical medicine texts that focused on neurological impacts of spell damage. And, just as before, Hermione had gone into full on student mode. Ron appreciated her work obviously, but he got rather bored when she did nothing but read for hours a day.

_At least it is a skill I was well trained in at Hogwarts_, he chuckled to himself. _Watching Hermione do work while I daydream was something I've spent years learning to excel at._

Currently Hermione had wheeled them both up to the hospital café for a change of scenery while she read and took notes. At least he could watch the other people as she worked this time and eavesdrop of the various conversations. He had been amused as one frazzled mother was being comforted by her sister after having visited her son who had managed to turn his hands and feet into magnets. Apparently they had been coping fine until he walked by a muggle shop that specialized in kitchen items, and the specialty knives had all flown out towards her son. He didn't end up with a single scratch, but the mum had been so frightened she'd passed out right there on the sidewalk. He was curious to know if there had been a Weasley Wizards Wheezes product involved with the whole ordeal. But, he'd probably never know.

Hermione seemed oblivious to anyone around them as she had her nose buried in a book while she scribbled notes he wasn't able to see on some parchment. Ron was confused by the book Hermione was reading. It didn't look like one of those boring medical texts. It looked like a muggle novel, but usually when she read one of those she would read it aloud. But she was reading this one to herself, and it seemed to be affecting her greatly, as she was biting on her cheek like she does when she's trying not to cry. Her eyes looked glassy, but she wasn't actively crying. Ron looked more closely at the cover of the book. It was clearly a muggle book, something about a diving bell and a butterfly.

_What the hell is a diving bell_? he wondered. _Muggles sure had some barmy things, so maybe they liked bells underwater. Wish I could ask Dad about it._

Then out of nowhere Hermione sniffed and wiped a nonexistent tear from her cheek. "Oh, Ron," she said sadly. "I thought I understood, but then this..." she muttered as she gestured at the book. "I am so sorry."

_I know you're the genius, love, but it would be really helpful if you could let me know what the hell we're talking about._

"Maybe I should read the whole thing to you? But honestly I don't know if I could get through it without weeping," she stammered.

_Hermione, I know you love books, but it is still just a book. Try to hold it together, love. Or at least tell me what the book's about_.

"Ok, ok. I think I should read this to you, but I know I will make an awful scene out here. Let's head back to the room, yeah?"

_Uh, yeah. Like I can do anything else. _

Hermione quickly packed up the book and her parchment and started them back towards the hospital room. But, as they arrived at the room, the nurse arrived with some manky nutritional potion, and then the physiotherapist came and they got caught up in the routine of the evening, and the conversation about the book never came back up.

But that night as Ron lay frozen on his back in the dark trying to fall asleep he could hear her crying. He really wished he could reach out to comfort her, say something to soothe her, or hell, even open his eyes just to look at her. But he couldn't, and so he had to listen to her cry on that stupid chair while his heart broke into a thousand pieces.

He finally fell asleep, but woke up to nightmares of other times he'd had had to lay there uselessly while she cried – when he finally returned to the horcrux hunt, at Malfoy Manor, at Shell Cottage and then in Australia when he had been just paralyzed. And, as he couldn't open his eyes or anything at all really, he had a very difficult night.

So, when he heard Hermione begin to stir the next morning, he felt extremely groggy and depressed. But, instead of her talking to him and telling him to start to wake up as she headed to the loo as she usually did, Ron had been shocked when out of nowhere she changed their routine. Instead of a gentle voice, what he got was her perfect lips on his. If he could have snapped his eyes open to see what was going on he would have. The kiss was brief, but much more sensual than anything they'd shared since they'd arrived at St. Mungo's.

Then he felt her hands touch his face gently, her fingertips lingering over his lips and then his eyelids as she gently opened them to face the day.

"Good morning, Ron," she said softly as she stared into his eyes. "You might thing I am utterly mad, but I have this feeling that today is going to be a really, really good day. But you're going to have to trust and hang in there with me as I am going to change up most every part of our routine. OK?"

_Uh, as long as you plan to kiss me like that some more then you can do anything you want, love_, he thought.

Hermione smiled and said, "Good. I thought so. Ok, I'm going to go wash my face and will be back in a mo." Then she kissed his cheek and headed off to the loo.

_Wonder what is up with her?_ he pondered. _She falls asleep crying and wakes up like the birds are chirping and her morning tea is laced with a love potion. But, better than crying. _

Hermione came back out in sweatpants and a t shirt, which was much more casual than she tended to be. Soon Alice came in with his morning nutritional potion.

"Good morning, you two," Alice said with an air of authority.

"It is a good morning," replied Hermione.

"Aren't you in a good mood?" teased Alice.

_You have no idea_, Ron added in his head.

"Yes I am, thank you very much."

Alice continued to make small talk as she administered the morning nutritional potion and organized her supplies to catheterize him.

Hermione busied with her bag as usual, but this time said, "Um, Alice, I am going to try and give him a shower on my own today, so no need to mess with the sponge bath this morning."

Alice raised an eyebrow that Hermione couldn't see and said nothing.

Hermione, still facing away from Alice, said, "and you can wipe that smirk of your face, Alice. Just trying a different approach, and he needs his hair washed today anyway. Just want to try changing up our routine a little."

"Mmm hmm," Alice responded knowingly.

"Oh, shut up," Hermione protested.

"I'm just teasing you, Hermione. I know there is nothing fun about this whole situation. You really think you're up for managing to bathe him all by yourself in the shower? You'll get drenched. And he is much bigger than you. And I wouldn't want you to drop him or fall yourself."

"Well, yes, thanks. But I am rather good with magic you know, so I think I'll be ok. And I just wore my grungy clothes this morning anyway. I just feel like if I don't try and modify things a little I might as well just hit this routine on repeat for the rest of our lives, and I am not ready for that yet."

"Ok. That's fine," assured Alice as she finished up. "But, Hermione, I want you to be ok. I know you are adamant he is still here with us despite what the healers have said, and I truly hope you are correct. Some days I even think you are. But, even if that is true, he is still paralyzed without any known way to reverse the spell damage. So, you still need to either prepare for this to be forever, or you need to find a way to make sure you can still live your life."

"Alice," Hermione said in a snippy tone. "While I appreciate your intent, I am afraid you are mistaken. If I had given up every time my chances at survival were bleak I would have died more than a dozen elaborately terrible deaths by now. But giving up and accepting unacceptable outcomes is just not a part of my makeup. I firmly believe that if magic caused this situation, then magic can very well reverse it. I'm not saying it is as simple as a small spell. But, logically it makes sense. I simply refuse to believe that there is no solution. And I intend to spend every minute I have either enjoying my time with the love of my life, or learning everything I can in order to find some speck of information that might help us. Seems farfetched, I know. Yet, many more farfetched things have happened in my life. And if you don't believe that, then you can bloody well go ask Voldemort himself what he has to say about my ability to achieve the impossible."

Alice was unusually quiet. Ron couldn't see her face from the angle she faced, and as he had never heard anyone tell her off before, he couldn't even imagine her expression. But he was quite familiar with the fiery, defiant expression on his witch's face.

"Hermione, I apologize if I came across as negative or doubting," Alice said in a chastised yet sincere tone. "Merlin knows I am sure I owe my life to the two of you using innovative thinking and straight up nerve to save our world. And because of that, there is certainly a small part of me that is cheering for you. But, Mr. Weasley is my patient, and while you are not technically my patient, I feel very much responsible for your well-being as well. And, frankly, at times I worry that sometimes you allow yourself to live just a tad too far across the barrier between reality and dreams. It may be easier there, but I am not sure it is always healthier. However, I hope for all of our sakes that once again the farfetched will become real, you will get your miraculous and happy ending and you can rub it in my face with a big fat I told you so."

"Thank you for that, Alice. I will look forward to doing precisely that. Though, I also want to say that I really do appreciate your care and concern for both Ron and myself," Hermione said in a sincere, though somewhat formal tone.

"Very well," the nurse said. "I am all set here. You sure you don't want any help getting him into the shower? I'm happy to help."

"No, I appreciate the offer, but I want to try this myself. I promise, if I change my mind or need a hand I will let you know immediately. OK?"

"Ok," the nurse said with a nod. "I'll put a notice on your door to give you some privacy, alright? Don't want anyone distracting you and having you both end up crashing onto the shower floor."

"That would be lovely. I am quite sure after this we may both be more worn out than usual, so I might do a shortened therapy routine this morning and let him kip a bit before lunch. Is that alright?"

"Sounds very good," the nurse said as she left the room.

As Ron listened to the sound of the door latching, he was surprised to also hear Hermione cast a locking spell at it. Hermione moved back into his line of sight and smiled at him.

"Sorry about that. I just, well, I want to try something different today. And, well, I am a little bit embarrassed about it and didn't want an audience for either failure or success on this one."

_Is she blushing?_

"I, um," she said looking nervously down at her shoes for a moment. "I know I said I had worn my grubby clothes so it wouldn't matter if I got drenched. But, well, if it's ok, I was actually just thinking that instead of getting soaked I would try just taking my shower at the same time."

_She could not have just said what I think she just said. No way. Can't be. I must be going mad. _

"I just thought that if you are as truly present as I think you are, then we'd both prefer it this way. And, if I am wrong and you aren't there, then, well, I guess there is no harm, is there?"

_Nope. No harm. Brilliant as usual. Fucking brilliant, you are._

"Ok, just give me a minute to get the shower going and get everything set up."

He saw her head to the loo and start the shower, and soon he could feel the warm steamy air coming from the room. Then she was wheeling him towards the bathroom. Once in there with the door closed, she smiled at him and then quickly removed their clothes with a wave of her wand. Then before he had a chance to appreciate the situation she levitated him into the bath chair in the shower. She was clearly nervous, so she talked rapidly the whole time.

"Now, Ronald, no cheeky comments allowed. We both need to get washed and ready for the day, and this is definitely the most – uh – efficient way to make sure we are clean," she said with a flush creeping up her chest.

_Bloody hell, Hermione, you can't put us together, naked in a shower, rub soap suds all over us after we haven't been in a situation like this in months and really think that I am not going to think inappropriate thoughts like, holy fuck you have the most amazing tits_, he internally moaned as she washed her chest.

Once she had washed their skin, she moved him out of the spray and tried to wash her hair, which was quite a challenge as her hair can't ever be rinsed quickly. So, she stood in the stream of water with her eyes closed and head tilted back for some time trying to massage and rinse all of the soap out of her mass of curls. Then she turned around and looked at him through the steamy shower spray, soon moving closer and staring into his eyes.

_Fuck, the things I want to do to you right now, Hermione. You have no fucking idea how turned on I am. You are the most beautiful witch ever_.

"It's not like you've never seen me naked before," she said softly. "It's just been a while. And, well, I guess you always took charge of this kind of thing." She laughed to herself as if lost in a memory. "I guess that's just between us, though. Not that it's any of their business, but no one would believe it anyway if they knew how much I prefer you being the lead for the physical side of our relationship." She paused, bit her lip and then said, "I still do, you know. So, this is a bit of a stretch for me." Then she sighed, glanced at the locked bathroom door and sighed again.

"I hope this isn't a horrible idea," she muttered mainly to herself. "I know if anyone saw me right now they would say I was molesting you or just gone completely insane, but I _miss_ you, Ron. I miss all of you."

_Bloody hell, woman._

With that she decided to once again sit on his lap, but this time they were naked. And wet. And in the shower. And instead of nuzzling contentedly into his chest as she primly read a book, this time she faced him, straddling her legs on either side of his hips, and she placed her hands around the back of his neck. She stared into his eyes for what felt to Ron like an eternity.

_Fuck, Hermione. You're killing me. I would give anything to be able to make love to you right now. I love you so fucking much. I wish you had even a tiny hint of how fucking randy I am right now._

"Ron, I swear, it's like I can hear you," she whispered. "I just – I just really think you're in there. And I am going to figure out how come get you. Just don't give up on me, ok? Promise me you'll hold on until I figure this out. Just think of this as a little encouragement to keep you going, ok?"

_Oh, yeah. Consider me encouraged._

With that, she leaned down and kissed his soft, wet, but lifeless lips as she had that morning. It was sensual and as slow as could be knowing she couldn't block his breathing. Then she ran her hands lightly down his scarred arms, placing her hands over his. Finally she lifted his hands, holding them over each of her breasts as she squeezed his hands over them.

_Oh, fuck._

Soon she was kissing his neck, moving her lips slowly up and across his jaw. Then she took his earlobe in her mouth, swirling her tongue over it as he had done to her so many times. Eventually she moved her attention down his chest. She stopped for a moment, resting her forehead against his chest.

"Is this insane? Am I just really messed up, Ron?"

_Fuck no, don't stop now!_

But then she was looking him in the eyes again, and suddenly her expression changed to one of utter astonishment. After staring at him for a bit, she clenched her eyes shut, shook her head, and then opened them again, her jaw slacking open in shock.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "You _are_ in there, aren't you? You know everything that's going on! Your eyes – they've changed! And I've seen them like this before - where those dark centers take over those perfectly blue eyes. It was when you wanted me, wasn't it? _WASN'T IT_?!"

_YES! YES! I am right here! And fuck do I want you! But I'm here, Hermione. I am right here! Oh my God, please see me! Please hear me!_

She stared at him, but saw no twitch of response.

"Well, if it is lust," she eventually muttered, "that makes two of us. And me yelling is quite the mood killer, isn't it?"

_Well, yes, but these are extenuating circumstances. But if you're feeling randy, love, go right ahead. I am here to serve. Just can't help out too much. But, fuck, I hope you don't let that stop you. _

"So, how about I just keep going and I'll worry about the rest later yeah? Because if I am mad, then you won't be upset at me for continuing because I have a good excuse. And if I'm not mad, then I would think the Ron I know and love would be furious at me for stopping to run off and tell someone I think you're still here because you look randy to me."

_Right as usual. You know me so well, you fucking brilliant witch. _

She laughed out loud at her own words. "See what happens when you aren't able to shut me up with a kiss?"

_Then kiss me already you barmy woman_.

With that she took another look in his eyes, and crinkled her forehead slightly. Then she whispered against his ear, "Let's see if we can't back to where we were, yeah?"

_Fuck, yeah._

She took one of his hands in hers, and began moving it all over herself in whatever way felt right. She moved it to massage one of her breasts, pinching her nipple as he often had done. Then she kissed his chest, lingering over any area she remembered him being especially sensitive. Then she moved his hand down to her most sensitive area, and looked again to his eyes, the warm steam of the shower still swirling around them.

"You were always better at this than I was. You still are." She moved his hand in a swirling motion as she rocked against him, grinding into his hand and lap.

_Bloody hell, Hermione. You are so fucking hot. _

Before long she had found her own release, and looked sheepishly into his eyes. "It's only ever been you, Ron. And only ever will be. I just want to be sure you know that."

Then she kissed his chest again, and slipped off his lap and looked down at his cock. He knew it wouldn't be erect, but he hoped it wouldn't deter her from whatever she had in mind.

"I don't know if you can feel this, Ron. But I need to do this just in case you can, alright?"

Still staring into his eyes, she grasped him in her hands, but not in the clinical way she'd done in caring for him all these weeks. No, this time she licked her lips and worked him up and down. Eventually she broke eye contact so she could take him in her mouth, swirling her tongue over the tip as she had done before everything happened. After several minutes, he was still not totally hard, but he had certainly stiffened more than he had since before the accident.

_Fuuuuuuuck_.

"God, I love you so much," she said as she returned to his lap, this time sitting sideways and leaning against his chest. She pulled his arm around her tightly and placed her ear over his chest.

_Oh, Hermione. I love you, too._

Then she laughed out loud, "You cheeky bloke. I know you can hear me. And see me and feel me too." She looked at him in the eyes again cupping his face as she spoke, "I'm going to figure this out. I promise. Thank you for not giving up. I'll come get you out, I swear. Just don't give up, ok? Promise me, Ron."

_I promised to never leave you again, Hermione, and I intend to keep my word. And I know you can figure all of this out. You can do anything. _

But of course he couldn't say anything. And he couldn't move, and he couldn't comfort her, but he simply willed her to feel his love.

Too soon, she took a deep breath and said, "Well, we can't stay in here naked all day or someone will come looking and then they'd definitely declare me mad. So, I'm going to get us dried off and dressed, alright?"

_If we have to_, he sighed in his head.

"But don't think we're lounging around all day. We have a lot to figure out. You've got to help me figure this out, and we have a lot of research to do. Not to mention we have to keep your muscles in strong shape so you'll be able to walk once we reverse this blasted curse – well – and do, uh – _everything else,_" she said with a wicked grin.

_Hmm. All good things. But can't we go back to you being naked and randy just for a little bit longer?_

Unfortunately, it wasn't to be, and the next thing Ron knew he was dressed in proper denim trousers and a button down shirt and in his regular wheelchair.

_Where does she think we're going today? We have a job interview or something?_

"Alright, so, time to get to work," Hermione announced. "And, since I want you thinking of this as proper work, we are both going to start dressing for it each day. It's far too easy to get lazy and depressed in nothing but track pants and lounge wear. And if it takes longer for the nurses to handle everything, then so be it."

_Right_, he sighed, not necessarily embracing every aspect of this new plan.

She turned his chair back around, and he could see that she had transformed the guest chair and side table into a work table for the two of them and had the books spread out. She moved his chair up to the table and sat on the adjacent corner so she could see his face as she spoke and could also show him things in books.

"So, I could walk you through all of the muggle science I've learned, but I think you would be terribly bored. Let me give you the quick summary. I think you are experiencing what is known as Locked-In-Syndrome, which the muggle books all say is caused by a rare type of stroke in your brainstem. What I am not sure of is whether or not you actually had a stroke or if the curse is serving as some sort of magical stopper or plug or something. With Locked-In-Syndrome they say you should be paralyzed and should have absolutely no feeling but that your brain should be totally functional. BUT, they also say that you should be able to move your eyes some – maybe blink, maybe look up and down a little. I haven't noticed that at all, but I thought maybe we could practice some, alright?"

_Ok, but I don't think you're going to see much_.

"Can you try to blink? Really try, ok? Even if you haven't had success before I really need you to try again. I'll suspend the spell that does it automatically for you for a minute or so. Alright, come on, I think you can do it. Give it a shot."

She stared at him for what felt like an hour but was probably only fifteen minutes. Every so often she'd close his eyes for a moment and then try again. He tried and tried to blink, but he wasn't able to even make an eyelid twitch.

"Ok, see, now we're getting somewhere," she said with a smile as she re-instated the regular blinking spell.

_What? But I couldn't blink. How is that getting somewhere? Maybe you are losing it after all._

"No, really, I know you think I'm not paying attention, but don't you see? If you'd had regular stroke of the brainstem, you'd probably be able to blink, so now we know that it wasn't a magically induced stroke, but instead something that is mimicking stroke symptoms in some way."

_Blimey, you're bloody brilliant._

"So, now I want you to try to see if you can look up or down. Even a smidge. We know that your eyes can dilate with, well, desire," she said with a blush as she looked down for a moment. "So, I am hoping that there is still the ability – even if you can't do it yet – to move the direction of your sight even if only a teeny tiny bit."

Then she grinned and reached for her beaded bag.

"To provide the proper motivation I got you a carrot," she said mischievously.

_A carrot? What?_

"Look, a chocolate frog," she smiled. "I'll move it, and you try to follow it with your eyes, alright? And if you can get your eyes to move, you get to taste it."

_That's not motivation, love. That's torture. But I'll give it a shot._

"Try this way," she said as she slowly moved the chocolate frog to his right.

He really tried, but couldn't do it. This repeated as she moved it to the left.

"Don't get discouraged. I think the vertical motion is a slightly different control system than the horizontal. So, take a minute, reset, and let's start fresh. Here – I'll give you a slightly different incentive."

With that her lips were soon on his as her hand grasped his neck and her nails raked over his scalp.

_Fucking fantastic_, he sighed in his head as she pulled away, holding his gaze.

"Ok. Ready? Let's try up and down."

With that she began to move the beloved chocolate up and down, and Ron tried furiously to follow, but he couldn't follow it with his eyes. He could sense her frustration. While he was frustrated, he wasn't that disappointed as he really hadn't thought it would work. But, he sensed that she thought that might have actually worked.

"Hmmm," she finally said. "OK. We're not there yet, but we'll try this again in a few days, ok?" Then she sighed, and he knew she was debating whether or not to tell him something. But then she said, "I have to admit I had really hoped that might have worked today. And, this book," she said, picking up the book he recognized from the café the day before. "This book is why. Do you know what this is?"

_Obviously not. And are you really not going to give me any of that chocolate frog? Seriously?_

"This book was written by a man – a muggle man – who suffered from locked in syndrome."

_Then how'd he write a book? What – was he some sort of legilimens? FUCK! Legilimency! How hadn't I thought of this? How haven't YOU thought of this? You just need to become a legilimens, Hermione! Oh please, please, please think of this? Please?_

"He had the ability to blink one eye, and his friends or family would list the letters of the alphabet and then he would blink when they got to the letter and write it down. Slow and tedious, and I am sure extremely frustrating, but he was able to communicate. He described the experience as having his body stuck in a diving bell while his mind was as free as a butterfly. A diving bell is an old muggle invention where you take this giant - think the size of a lorry or something – a giant bell shape and put it straight down in water. It traps air in the bell shape and then people can be in that trapped air bubble and go in and out from there to do construction under water or something."

_Barmy muggles. Makes gillyweed look pretty damn good, doesn't it?_

"Anyway – my point is – he found a way to communicate. And we can too. Now, it took him a month or so after his stroke to gain that ability. You've had a lot longer to recover, but I refuse to get discouraged. We've made it this far, right?"

She smiled at him and reached for his hand which she stroked affectionately with hers.

"I know you theoretically can't feel any of this," she said sweetly as she stared into his eyes. "But I can, and I miss it. And, well, maybe you can too."

He knew he could drown in her eyes. There was so much in those two swirling orbs of chocolate with gold flecks. It's as if he could see her soul, and he hoped she could see his. The idea of legillemency was such a revelation, and he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before. He smiled inwardly as he knew that at some point she would think of it. And he mentally chuckled knowing how irritated she would be at herself that she hadn't thought of it earlier. He loved seeing her all wound up like that.

After their morning spent on _showering_ – not to mention her research and theories, their day had quickly gotten caught up in physiotherapy, nutritional potions and the regular grind of hospital life. Before he knew it, it was time for his evening potions.

"Alice? What are you still doing here at this time of night?" asked Hermione, echoing Ron's unspoken question.

"Oh, well, today is actually Sian's birthday, and her adorable boyfriend called me to ask if I could help him find coverage for her shift as he was planning to propose tonight."

"Oooh! That's so wonderful!" Hermione gushed. "And so kind of you to stay. You're not here all night are you? You have to be exhausted."

"No more exhausted than you are, my dear. And, no. I won't be here all night. Emily is taking over for me in another hour after she gets her kids to bed. So don't worry – I'll be back bright and early tomorrow."

"Well, I am thrilled for Sian. I know she's been hoping Roger would be the one."

"I think it's fair to say we've all been hoping Roger was the one," Alice said with a smile. "But, I have to confess, being kind to Sian and Roger was not my only motivation for pick up part of her shift."

"No?"

"No. It's been months, Hermione. And I am frankly tired of watching you sleep in that terrible chair."

"Oh I think the recliner is quite comfortable," Hermione protested weakly.

"Well, it's terrible. There are enough problems in this situation we can't fix, but this, my dear, is not one of them." And with that, she flicked her wand towards the bed causing it to enlarge to a comfortable queen size bed with ample room for two people.

Hermione gaped at her and initially went to protest saying "Alice! I've told you I don't need... Wait, you know, never mind. Thanks. I appreciate it. You're right. It may, in fact, be just what I – or what he – needs. Thank you."

Alice, taken aback by the lack of argument, quickly recovered and smiled. "Excellent. Well, I'll leave you two to hopefully the best night's sleep either of you have had in months. Good night Hermione, Ron. I'll see you both in the morning." With that, she dimmed the lights and left, closing the door behind her.

_Bless you, Alice! _he thought.

Ron was elated. He had been wanting Hermione to do that for months – partly because he loved the feel of her against him, but also because it just pained him to see her on that cramped chair each night or waking up with a stiff neck. And then for Alice to force the issue on today of all days after Hermione had shocked the hell out of him in the shower. It was almost too much to believe.

Reading that muggle book had possessed Hermione to shower with him that morning, and she had seen him! Seen HIM! Not just the naked part of him, which had been bloody brilliant mind you, but when his eyes dilated with lust she noticed! Thank Merlin he had such a brilliant witch. He had been quite shocked when Hermione had started kissing him that morning, but he had been so happy he didn't care how shocked he was. It was sort of like when she'd kissed him during the Battle of Hogwarts – shock didn't begin to describe it, but neither did ecstatic. Maybe there wasn't a word for such an extreme emotion. But that didn't mean he couldn't feel it.

_Emotional range of a teaspoon, my arse_, he smirked.

As the door shut behind the nurse, Hermione turned to him and moved so that her eyes caught his.

"Honestly I've wanted to do this for months, but it felt wrong somehow. But now that I absolutely know you're here with me, I know it's what you would want if you could speak, isn't it? I'm right, aren't I?"

_Aren't you always, you barmy witch? Now get over here!_

She blushed and smiled and walked to the side of the bed where he couldn't see her. But he could hear her toe off her trainers and then he felt the bed bend under her weight as she crawled in. He was still on his back and dying to roll over and hold her, but he couldn't move so he simply let her get comfortable. She tossed and turned for a few minutes until she finally huffed an exasperated sigh.

"I'm such an idiot sometimes," she said as she got out of the bed.

_NO! Wait! Come back!_

But then his brilliant witch walked across the room and grabbed her wand, and pointed it at him, slowly levitating and turning him so he could be on his side like he had usually slept when they'd shared a bed before the paralysis.

_Holy Honeydukes that feels so good_, he mentally moaned. His back had been so stiff from constantly sleeping in that position that he had almost gotten used to the pain. Then she bent his leg and moved some pillows around him so he would stay propped up that way. Then she crawled back into the bed, nestled her back into his chest and tugged his arm around her torso, holding it clasped in her hand snugly under her arm with the top of his thumb just grazing the underside of her breast. Maybe he was delusional. Could all of this really happen in one day? But on each inhale he could smell his amortentia, and he knew it was wonderfully real.

_Fuck, Hermione, I don't deserve you, but I love you so much_.

"I've missed this so much," he heard her say with a twinge in her voice. "I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner. This is ever so much better for both of us."

_No kidding_, he laughed to himself.

He felt her free hand come up and stroke his cheek, which felt fucking brilliant. "I love you so much, Ron. I'm sorry I've messed so much of this up. I just, I didn't know how to do this, you know?"

_What are you talking about? You haven't messed anything up. You're the only one who has refused to give up on me_.

"I always believed you were still in there, and I believed it – I really did. But maybe I didn't KNOW it until today. I'm sorry for ever doubting you for one second. I'm so sorry! I hope you can forgive me," she sniffed.

_Bloody hell, why are you crying? I'm bollocks at this even when I can – you know – move and speak and all that shite. I sure as hell can't fix it when I can't do any of those things_. _There's nothing to forgive, and even if there was you'd have a long way to go to screw up even half as bad as I have, so please stop crying._

"Sorry, sorry, I know you hate it when I cry and you can't fix it. Maybe it's just cathartic, you know? Just such a relief. You're ok! You're here. Oh Ron, it's going to be ok. It will. I just have to figure out how first. But, right now, I really just want you to hold me, alright? I've always felt safe in your arms. And even though you can't speak or move right now, I still feel safer in your arms than anywhere else in the whole world. You have always believed in me, Ron. And I can feel it now, too. I know you love me. And that's all I need right now – for you to love me and hold me, to keep me safe for a few hours."

_Fuck, I love you, Hermione,_ he thought. _And the idea that my lifeless body pretend-holding you helps even the tiniest bit, well, it's unbelievable. But you're always right, so I'll try and believe it anyway._

He heard her breathing begin to relax, and soon she had slipped into that deep, peaceful sleep she'd had back when they were sharing a bed before the trip to Australia. He realized with a start that he hadn't heard her breathe this way in the months they had been in the hospital.

_It's a wonder she's still functioning. She's got to be exhausted_, he mused.

Despite how tired he was from the emotional roller coaster of a day, he was far too excited to sleep yet. While he'd held onto her belief in him for months, he'd known that she wasn't fully convinced he was there. She had only not given up out of a sense of loyalty or something. But now she knew. Who would have thought his randy body would be what saved him in the end? He let his mind drift back to the shower that morning and relish in the memory of how amazing it was to feel her that way again. He'd lost hope he'd ever have that again. Ever. And it was just as amazing that she still wanted him that way. He hadn't seen a mirror in months, but he was rather sure his expressionless face and often drooling mouth couldn't look that attractive even with the strongest love potion out there.

_Focus, Weasley_, he chastised himself. _Aside from feeling amazing, what did you learn? It means that not everything had been paralyzed by that damn curse. You've had feeling sensations coming in all this time, but unable to have any response. BUT – your eyes still reacted to her. And your cock tried hard to react too, which was fucking brilliant as well. But, if my eyes fill with lust and desire, some ability remains to communicate. The question is how I can get her to figure out she needs to become a legilimens. It still won't magically lift the curse, but at least we'd be able to communicate. And she'd know I can feel her, which would be so fucking fantastic. Seems impossible. But then again, we killed Voldy as teenagers and Harry had survived Avada twice, so maybe it wasn't exactly insurmountable odds, all things considered. But damn, it wouldn't be easy either. _


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Hermione felt more energized than she could remember feeling in years. For the last two weeks she had slept soundly in Ron's arms in the magically expanded bed. She hadn't had a single nightmare in that time, and she felt that her mind was sharp and strong, and she finally believed that they were really going to figure all of this out.

She had to admit that some of her relaxed energy may have come from the release of built up sexual frustration. She'd made a point to take over the responsibility for managing Ron's showers on the days he needed his hair washed. And, in that time she had absolutely taken advantage of the time for the two of them to be alone, and wet, and naked. And not only had she been able to come away with her own satisfaction, but the sight of such desire, and she thought love, in Ron's eyes was enough to keep her on cloud nine. She blushed as she thought of her continuing efforts to see signs of life in, well, other parts of his body as well. As they had spent more time together physically, she had been able to get much more of a sexual response from him, and just a few hours prior had finally been able to bring him to his own release. And, while she knew from all of the muggle medical texts she'd been reading that even quadriplegics with severed spinal cords were often able to ejaculate like that, she felt by the look in his eyes that he had truly experienced pleasure, instead of merely an instinctive reaction of nerves.

They'd had a great morning, but she was also looking forward to the afternoon when Harry was going to come so she could leave for a little bit. She was currently double checking that she had her lists to take with her – lists of books to track down and some things she wanted to pick up at a few shops. She looked over at Ron for a moment, and though he looked the exact same as he had for the last few months, there was something about his eyes at that moment that took her breath away. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she could practically feel the love and adoration coming from him. She gave him a shy smile and tucked a stray curl behind her ear.

"I'll only be gone a few hours, you know," she said, inwardly cursing the blush she felt creeping across her face. "What do they say about absence making the heart grow stronger?"

She stared at him a moment, and then kissed him softly on the lips and whispered, "I'll miss you, too."

As she finished she heard the door start to open and turned around to see Harry coming into the room.

"Hi, Harry!" she beamed, and then hugged her dear friend warmly.

"Wow," he said hugging her back. "You look great."

"Thanks, Harry. I feel pretty good, actually. I've been sleeping ever so much better recently and had forgotten what a difference that makes. And I really have a sense that I am close to a breakthrough, which helps too."

He simply smiled, and she could sense he still wasn't convinced she would be successful, but she didn't let it deter her. Then he turned to Ron to nod and smile, but he caught himself and stared at his best mate for a moment.

"Wow, Ron looks really good, too, Hermione."

"I know," she said with a knowing wink to Ron that Harry couldn't see. "I think he's been sleeping better too. You know it took me a long time to realize I shouldn't have had him on his back all this time. A few weeks back I finally tried turning him on his side and propping him up in that same position he used to actually sleep in. I think it's made a huge difference."

"Yeah, I can't argue. He looks great. You both do."

He put his bag down on the chair and turned back to Hermione. "I'm so sorry I haven't been by in a few weeks. I had hoped to come by, but then they sent us out on an unplanned mission that lasted a week and a half! Gin was not pleased as it was the only weekend she was home. Well, I am not sure she could possibly have been more frustrated about that than I was."

"Careful, Harry," Hermione teased. "Just because Ron can't tell you off, he's still the same over-protective brother, and I am going to go out on a limb and guess he doesn't want to hear about that."

"Yeah, uh, right, sorry," he mumbled awkwardly in Ron's direction.

"It's alright," she said. "Look, I know you have a lot of paperwork to get done, so I will leave you to it. Alice should come with his nutritional potion in about an hour. Sometimes his nose runs a lot once they pull that tube back out, so could you just watch that for me? Sometimes it's just like a cold, but sometimes it's like the nasal tissue is just so irritated that it bleeds a lot. If that happens, just fetch Alice, alright? Do not hold a tissue to his nose because it can block his breathing. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Tell me what you understand, Harry," Hermione said in her prefect voice, which made Harry chuckle.

"Hermione, I promise I will keep him in ship shape while you are off for a few hours. If he gets a bloody nose, I'll fetch Alice the nurse and not Alice, Neville's mum. And I won't hold a tissue to Ron's nose and suffocate him."

She gave him an arched eyebrow which had him holding up his hands up in surrender, "Hermione, even if he wasn't my best mate, do you think I'm nutty enough to make you furious at me? Don't forget, I am one of the only people who knows what you are truly capable of. And I don't want any of those canary scars on my arms, thank you very much."

"Nice, Harry," she said sarcastically as she playfully smacked him upside the back of his head. Then she kissed Ron on the cheek, grabbed her bag and looked back as she headed out the door. "I'll be back by half past four at the latest."

"No rush. Take your time. Ginny's not home anyway. I can do this paperwork here or I can do it at home. Makes no difference to me."

"Right. Thanks." With that she was off.

She popped by her childhood home and cast the needed spells to get the laundry to wash, dry and fold itself. Then she did the quick errands first, heading to the market for some of her favorite oatmeal and biscuits, and then she went by a muggle store that sold organizational office things like filing cabinets, bins and shelves. She'd decided she needed a better filing system for her research than simply throwing everything into her trusty beaded bag. So, she purchased a small trunk that worked as a file drawer, and she also purchased a small bookshelf so she could keep her many magical and muggle texts sorted. Once she had her purchases in an alley behind the store, she shrunk them down and stored them in her bag before apparating to Diagon Alley. First she went to Honeydukes to get a bag full of Ron's favorite chocolate frogs, and she purchased some sugar quills – partly because she liked them, but also because she thought that something like a lolli could be easy for Ron to enjoy. After that she went to Flourish and Blotts. She found herself walking down the aisles, trailing her fingers over the many spines of the books thinking of all of the interesting things held within their pages. She even allowed herself to think longingly of the possible days in the future where she could once again simply read for fun and intellectual curiosity. After getting lost in the daydream of it for a bit, she soon shook off such nonsense and headed back to the sections she was most interested in. She selected several books from the medical area, as well as some on reversing dark curses, and had a stack of books as she headed towards the cash register.

But, as she walked from the medical section to the register, she found herself walking through the sports aisle. It suddenly occurred to her that Ron must be dying for news about his precious losing Cannons. She grinned and added the two most recent editions of Quidditch Quarterly and Keeper Insight. Then she had an idea, checked her watch, and decided she still had time to get that done, get home for the laundry and make it back on time. With that she quickly paid for her purchases, shrunk them down and headed off to see if she could find what she was looking for. Forty five minutes later she was grinning when she stepped back into her childhood home to get the clean laundry and put it in her bag with all of her fabulous purchases.

And then in a final act of inspiration, she decided to go pick up some take away from the neighborhood pub where her dad would often go to watch football. She knew it would make her a bit homesick for them, but in many ways she needed to see someone who had known them, as no one in the magical world really knew them at all. When she walked into Mason's Mantle, the smell of familiarity hit her hard. She had spent many afternoons with her Dad sitting at a table – him watching football and her reading. Her mum had always asked her why she went if she was only going to read, but she'd just shrugged and said that it was a lovely place to read and she liked the outings with her dad.

"Well, I'll be, Hermione!" a friendly voice called from the smiling man behind the bar.

"Hello, Mr. Streakon, how are you?"

"Fine, fine, my dear, the bigger question is how are you? Aren't you a sight for sore eyes? Let me get Essie, she'll have my hide if she knew you were here and I didn't fetch her." He smiled again then yelled into the back room, "ESSIE! COME HERE! IT'S HERMIONE GRANGER!"

"What? I'm right here, Richard, no need to make sure the Canadians across the pond know it too," a voice came, causing Hermione to stifle a laugh. Then the older woman came out, caught sight of Hermione and broke into a big smile. "Hermione! It's so wonderful to see you, come here and give me a hug, child!"

Hermione smiled and hugged her warmly. "It's so good to see you, Mrs. Streakon."

"We've missed you, dear. And your parents. I know they wanted to see Australia, how are they?"

"Oh, they're well the last I heard from them. You know, having adventures they never would have expected I suppose."

"Right, right. Seems like a huge move when you could just see a kangaroo at the zoo," muttered the older woman. Hermione grinned. Mrs. Streakon and Mrs. Weasley had always had a lot in common. They shared a similar build, and despite being the shortest member of their families, they each ruled the roost without any doubt.

"Yes. I miss them terribly. I really hope that we'll all be able to be back here at the same time again," said Hermione truthfully. "To be honest, I was feeling a little homesick today and thought I'd come in here. Lots of wonderful childhood memories in this place."

"Of course you did! We shared those moments. I'll never forget the first time your father brought you in here. I thought he was quite strange," Mr. Streakon said. "Who on earth brings a little girl to a pub? But you sat there quite primly in your little mary janes and cardigan, your hair plaited just so, and you read the history of something or other while he had several pints and watched his poor team lose again."

"Happened quite often if I recall," said Hermione.

"The reading or the losing?" Mrs. Streakon asked.

"Both!" Hermione and Mr. Streakon answered in unison, causing all three of them to laugh.

"You'll stay for supper, right?"

"Oh, I really wish I could. But I was going to just get some takeaway. I have to get back to – well, my, um, my boyfriend, Ron, he was in an accident and is in hospital. I've been staying there much of the time to help with his therapy and recovery."

"Oh! That's terrible. What on earth happened?"

"Too long and too depressing of a story for me to tell without crying right now," she said truthfully. "But he's had some paralysis. It's terrible as he hasn't been able to talk at all, so it's been very difficult for all of us. The great news is that his mind seems in-tact, but it is so frustrating to not be able to communicate."

"That's awful, dear. I am so sorry," Mrs. Streakon said gently. "And you all alone without your parents, you should have told us, dear. We'd help you. Is his family being supportive?"

"Well, they recently lost another son, and I think it has been very difficult for them. But, Ron and I have a dear friend, Harry, from school who has been wonderful. We're muddling through anyway. I am just trying to stay positive. Of course, Ron's always been the relaxed and happy one out of the two of us, so I do have a bad habit of getting over focused on the wrong thing. But I am trying."

"Is there anything we can do to be helpful, love?" Mr. Streakon asked, eyes full of concern.

"Oh, I think your smiling faces have helped a lot, actually. And maybe a couple of those meat pies and chips?" she said with a smile.

"That I can do," he said with a wink as he started to pack up her supper. As he busied himself getting her food together, his wife came and sat on a barstool next to Hermione.

"So, tell me some of the happy, things, dear"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, this boyfriend, Ron was it?"

Hermione nodded, "Yes, Ron."

"Right, Ron. If you are willing to spend all of this time and energy to care for him when he can't even communicate, he must be a rather special fellow. Tell me about him."

"Oh," Hermione blushed. "Well, Ron and I went to boarding school together. So, we've known each other since we were eleven."

"Well, how long have you been together, then?"

Hermione laughed. "Our friend Harry would tell you that Ron and I were mad for each other for years, but we were too stubborn to admit it or see it or something. So we were best friends but would get into ridiculous rows about things. He's a ginger, you know, and has the temper to match. But, then again, so do I. Honestly, I think that's one of things I like about him. So many people have always either deferred to me or ignored me, but he's been one of the few people to push back and challenge me. We're totally different in how we view the world – he's relaxed, spur of the moment, just wings it on things compared to – well, compared to me who would read in a pub," she laughed. "But, he loves me and I love him. And, with everything over the past year, it's – well – he's shown me in actions as much as words how much he's willing to sacrifice for me. And, I just miss him, you know?" she said as she dissolved into tears.

"Oh, of course, you do, lamb, of course you do," Mrs. Streakon said as she wrapped her arms around Hermione, rubbing her back and stroking her hair. "You'll figure it out, I know you will. You always do."

Hermione sniffed, and tried to stop her tears, wiping her hands against her cheeks.

"Well, I may not be as good at comforting you when you cry," Mr. Streakon said as he came back from the kitchen with her supper in a bag. "But I make some mean meat pies. So, when you get back to hospital, you and your Ronald have a nice dinner. Everything feels better when you've had a good meal."

Hermione laughed, "You sound just like him."

"Sounds like a brilliant bloke for you then," he said with a wink. "First supper, then a good rest. Now if only I could help you figure out how to read his mind, I'd be a regular hero."

Hermione snapped her head up and stared at him, feeling the blood drain from her face. "What did you say?" she whispered.

"That I made you dinner and wished I could read his mind?" he asked in a confused voice.

"Oh my God!" Hermione shouted. "I can't believe I didn't think of-"

"Hermione, are you quite alright?" Mrs. Streakon asked, patting her hand.

"Yes, yes, I'm wonderful! Oh, Mr. Streakon, you're a genius! You've just given me the most wonderful idea!"

"Hermione, you seem quite worked up, maybe you should sit here and have a cuppa before your take off."

"No, no, I need to get back. Thank you both so much!" she yelled as she plunked some money on the counter, grabbed the bag and dashed out the door.

As soon as she was out of sight she turned on the spot and apparated back to Diagon Alley. She ran straight back to the book store, which was closing just as she arrived.

"Ms. Granger?" the owner said. "Weren't you just here?"

"Yes, yes. I was, but I realized I forgot something. Will you let me in just for a quick second?"

He smirked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Ms. Granger, do forgive my impertinence, but I do believe I have known you long enough to know that it is practically impossible for you to pop in and out of my store in a 'quick second.'"

Laughing, she nodded her head. "I can't argue with that. But, I am going to buy one copy of every book you have on legillemency, and then I will be on my way. I promise."

"Alright, alright," he said, holding the door open for her. "Come on, they're back here. I don't have too many, but the ones I have are quite good. Let's get you set up."

Soon Hermione had another stack of books to store in her beaded bag, and was ready to get back to Ron. As she left the book shop she took a moment to catch her breath. She could not believe she hadn't thought of this before.

"Stupid!" she said to herself as she shook her head. "I cannot believe I didn't think of that until now! Ugh!" She took a cleansing breath, trying to stop the negative self talk. As she looked up she glimpsed the garish sign in front of George's shop. Part of her wanted to run straight to find Ron's brother and share her plan, but she knew that wasn't the right thing to do. She also wasn't sure if she should say anything to Harry yet. As much as she wanted to run into the hospital room shouting about her breakthrough, she decided she would keep this between her and Ron for now. And with that thought in her mind, she quickly headed to St. Mungo's to kick Harry out and get working on becoming a legillemens.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Ron was utterly bored. Harry had more or less parked his wheel chair in front of the window so that Ron could look out, but then he had sat down to work at the table behind him where Ron couldn't see Harry, his papers or even a clock. And, unlike Hermione, Harry didn't say a word to Ron while he was there. And, with his eyes stuck open, Ron couldn't really take a kip. So, instead he stared out the window at the muggle brick office building across the street. He'd watched this particular office so much he'd decided that if or when he got out of this mess he wanted to go over and see that office and figure out what it was they did there.

As Ron watched the shadows slowly creep across the buildings on the other side of the street, he realized it had to have been several hours. He knew it had to be time for his nutritional potions soon as he was starting to get hungry. If Alice didn't show up soon, his stomach was going to start growling loudly. He could hear Harry scratching away at parchment diligently, and sighing every now and then, but he didn't take a break or seem to take notice of Ron.

At the sound of the door opening, Ron's heart leapt in anticipation. Even if it wasn't Hermione, maybe Alice would at least turn him so he could see what Harry was working on.

"Hello, Mr. Weasley," Alice announced. "Time for some sustenance. Oh, Hello, Mr. Potter. I didn't know you were here. Where is Hermione?"

"Hello, Alice. Good to see you, and please call me Harry. Hermione had to go run some errands – pick up some more books and some of her favorite snacks and such."

Alice chuckled. "More books. Hmph. That's just what she needs," she said sarcastically. "What she really needs is to go home and get some sleep and then sit outside and get some fresh air. But to be fair, she seems to at least be sleeping better recently."

"Yes, I noticed how both she and Ron looked better than they had a few weeks ago when I was last here. Glad she is better rested. Makes such a difference."

"Oh yes, I would agree," she chuckled. "They both seem to have found a better sleeping arrangement."

Harry said nothing, but Ron sensed he was giving Alice an odd look. But, faithful to her oath of patient privacy, Ron was impressed that she said nothing about how he and Hermione were sleeping together now.

_Cheers, Alice._

"Come now, Mr. Weasley, let's roll you up to the table so you can have your lunch with your friend here." With that she moved Ron's chair up to Harry's table and proceeded to insert the tubing up his nose and down his throat.

_Arrrggghhhooouuch_, Ron moaned internally. _Glad someone invented this stupid thing so I don't starve to death, but bloody hell, it is miserable to do three times a day. _

"Alice, can I ask you something?" Harry asked timidly.

"Of course you can. What can I help you with?"

"Well, it's just, sometimes I feel like Ron looks like he's here, but most of the time not. I know what the healers have said officially. But, I was wondering – since you see him so regularly – what do you think? Do you think he's still with us, stuck in there somehow?"

Alice looked carefully at Harry for a moment without saying anything. Eventually she said, "Well, my job as a nurse is to take care of my patient and ensure that he has the best care possible to help him recover as much as possible. Part of that is following the orders of the healers and carrying out the trusted, researched clinical protocols they prescribe and abiding by their results and conclusions." Then she sighed deeply, clearly planning her next words carefully. "All of that said, I would think that you, of all of the people in our world, could appreciate the need to live and be in the world of rules and laws and logic while at the same time trusting and seeking faith in the surreal and fantastical and the realm of the not yet discovered or understood. In my personal professional experience, the truly successful patients have to navigate that often grey line between the two very carefully. And, if they are able to do so with the support of key loved ones, their odds only improve."

"So you think he could really be stuck in there?"

"Well, it would be medically impossible," she stated firmly. Then she raised an eye at Harry and added in a tone betraying her true opinion, "But, come to think of it, I believe surviving the killing curse is also medically impossible. So, you tell me, Harry Potter. What about you? Do you believe that there is room in our lives for situations that do not fit into our current understanding of the universe? Where the impossible occurs anyway? I seem to have heard that you, Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley had a few adventures over the past years, so you two probably know him better than anyone. So, I will ask you the same question. Do you think he could still be with us?"

_I always knew I liked you, Alice,_ Ron thought. _Very few people in our world have the bollocks to treat the sodding Chosen One with such cheek. Glad to know you are among the elite few of us who can rise to the occasion when necessary. _

Then he watched carefully as Harry processed what she had said, his face betraying both the surprise of being smart-mouthed and the hope that he allowed to enter his eyes.

"Well, you've given me a lot to consider, and I appreciate that. You're right, it would be impossible. But that word does seem to get tossed around a little too lightly at times. That said, his family has suffered so greatly with their losses of the last year that I wouldn't want to infuse any false sense of hope only to break their hearts again."

"Well, then, I wouldn't give them any false hope. All you can do in the meantime is be there for the people you love – Ms. Granger, Mr. Weasley and his family. Don't pretend he's not there, Mr. Potter. If he's really your best mate, treat him as such."

"Understood, ma'am," Harry said with a contrite nod. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize to me. You didn't park me somewhere to stare at a wall for hours. Well, alright. I am off. I'll be back in a bit once those potions are done and we'll remove the tubing."

"Right, yes. Um, Alice?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. For, well, for all of it. For taking care of both Ron and Hermione."

"It's my job. The fact that they are lovely people just makes it that much easier. But, may I say, if the rumor mill is to be believed, I believe these two were willing to sacrifice a lot to take rather good care of you. Maybe it's time to return the favor."

Harry nodded, but his tone was soon somber, saying, "It would be impossible to ever repay the debt I owe either of them for what they have done for me. But, you are right. I need to, at the very least, do a much better job at trying. And I very much appreciate you reminding me of how to do that better."

"Very good, Mr. Potter. Take care," Alice said as she turned and headed out the door.

Ron was shocked at how direct she had been. He couldn't remember anyone since the war, with the exception of Hermione, Ginny and himself, having the audacity to scold Harry. He was quite curious as to what would happen when it was only the two of them again.

The sound of the door clicking shut echoed in the silent room as Ron stared straight ahead. He could see that Harry was looking at him, though not straight in the eye. Then he sighed, as Ron had heard a million times before, run his hand through his messy hair and then took of his glasses to rub his eyes before replacing them again. He looked away from Ron, sighed uncomfortably and then pulled the chair over to sit in front of him, still not making eye contact, but clearly making an effort. He was quiet for a while, and Ron recognized the furrowed brow from years of watching Harry brood.

Finally, Harry sighed a third time and then said, "I dunno, Ron. It feels weird talking to you when I am not sure you're even here. Like I used to talk to my toys when lived in that damn cupboard under the stairs. I already question my sanity on a regular basis, so talking to someone who seems to have no sign of life and has been declared more or less dead feels a bit barmy. But, the nurse was right – is right. Even if you are dead with nothing left but your body and I am barmy for talking to you, I still need to treat you better. You've been my best mate in the whole world. You gave me a family. You have saved my life more times than I count. And you haven't murdered me for dating your baby sister. And in return I managed to get one of your brothers killed, one mauled by a werewolf, your father bitten by a horcrux, your sister possessed by a horcrux and you weren't able to finish your schooling." Then he laughed. "OK. Yeah – that last one probably isn't something you're too worried over, I suppose."

_You're an idiot Harry. If I could smack upside your head right now I absolutely would. The only things I liked about school were Hermione and quidditch. And everything else you listed isn't your fault, which I have told you approximately infinity times before. _

Harry was quiet for a bit, forehead crinkled as he was balancing a combination of distress and nausea. Then he added, "You know, now that I think about it, you had to look at me when you thought I was dead, so maybe you do understand. This isn't easy, but I know that wasn't either. I heard you, you know? When Hagrid was holding me. I heard Gin first, but then I heard you screaming, and I knew you were holding Hermione as she cried too. And it killed me not to be able to tell you it was going to be alright. I so wanted to make it just the tiniest bit easier for you. You had given too much already, but to hear the pain in your voice..." at that Harry's voice cracked, and he started to cry a bit.

Ron was surprised. Harry never did this – never let his emotions come through. But listening to him, Ron finally had some insight in how hard it was for him to lay lifeless in Hagrid's arms while the people he loved suffered. If he could move right now he would immediately be comforting Harry and making jokes to lighten the moment. But, as Harry had to do that day at Hogwarts– Ron just took it in, willing Harry to feel his love and presence.

"Sorry, sorry – I'm such a git. You would so take the piss out of me right now if you could. Merlin, Ron – I wish you could. I just miss you so much. Maybe that's why I don't come here enough. I just power on, try not to think about how much it hurts to not have you by my side all of the time. The world isn't right without you. And I haven't known what to do. Without you things don't work – they never have. Even Hermione and I can't quite figure out our normal sibling stuff when you aren't here. It was the same on the hunt, mate. Without you, nothing worked. I was a brooding git, and she was sad and silent. I know you never believed that when I told you before, but it's true. And it's as true now as it was then. And – just like with the damn locket – I know you would never, NEVER choose to leave us. Your heart is so big and so visible, and I am so grateful to have sat with you that first day on the train. And now you have been pulled away from us again and it's all gone to shite. So, I dunno mate, maybe the deluminator can bring you back again or something from wherever you are. There was no logic to make that happen last time, and I know there is no logic to make this happen, but I guess it's never stopped you before, so don't let it stop you now."

Harry shook his head, looked Ron directly in the eye and stared for a while. Not seeing whatever it was he was looking for, he sighed in frustration, stood up and began pacing a bit.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way. You were supposed to get your happy ending now. You'd marry Hermione, I'd marry Gin, our kids would go to Hogwarts together – it would be everything we never dared to even dream of."

Harry tried to take some deep breaths to keep from crying again. He was quiet for a bit, and then he said, "I don't know if you can hear me, Ron, but know I am going to do better. I promise. I had been so focused on not losing it with you gone and trying to be there for Gin that I failed to be there for you and Hermione, but that is going to change. I am going to be better at taking care of you both. I'm sure Hermione can figure this out – she's so damn brilliant she probably already has a plan she's not telling me about. But, you can trust me. I'll be there for her. And, Ron," Harry said softly as he looked back in his eyes again. "Even if you can't find your way back, I promise you I will be there for her. I'll do better. I will look out for her like I know you'd want me to. I promise, and I am so sorry I have been such an arse for the past few months. I'm going to make it up to you, mate. I love you like a brother, and I've been acting like a shite brother. But I'm going to do better."

_Thanks, Harry_, he thought. _I love you too, you git_.

Harry physically shook his head as if shaking off the daze of an emotional moment. Then, as if he didn't know what to do with himself he looked around the room a bit lost.

_Sit down Harry, you don't need to entertain me. Don't make it weird, mate. Just don't pretend I'm not here. _

"Right," Harry said. "Well, unfortunately I still have to do my paperwork. You'll love about 60% of being an auror someday, Ron, but the other 40% is enough paperwork to overwhelm even Percy."

_Not terribly motivating to come back and join up._

"But well, the other 60% is so fun. You'll love it. And I can't wait to catch whoever did this to you."

_Shite. I assumed you'd already done that. Hermione told you it was Crabbe, right? How hard can that git be to find?_

"I wonder if you know who did it. Hermione said she the only time she can remember seeing the Death Eater mask removed that the leader's back was to her. But she said you and the masked leader seemed to be acquainted based on the way you interacted."

_Fuck. I guess I had assumed the aurors had it under control. I didn't know it was still at square one. Hermione! How can I make you figure out the legillemency thing!? Although, if she doesn't remember it was Crabbe, I don't know how much she remembers at all._

"Anyway, I do have to sit here and fill this stuff out. So I don't want you to think I am ignoring you after my whole dramatic speech and everything," he chuckled. "But, maybe I could levitate the Prophet or something up so you could read the sports section."

_That's bloody brilliant! I haven't heard any scores in months! And please tell Hermione that idea. Just brilliant._

Soon Harry had charmed the newspaper so that it was straight in front of Ron's face and open to the quidditch pages.

"Your Cannons haven't had their massive turnaround yet. Maybe they're waiting to do it as a celebration of your miraculous recovery," Harry said with a tone that made Ron know he was rolling his eyes. But he didn't care, he was reading the articles and catching up on what he'd missed.

About half an hour later Alice came back in to remove the tubing from his nutritional potions.

"Are you hiding his face with the Prophet?" asked Alice.

"No, I promise," said Harry, his hands up in a sign of surrender. "We had some time to chat, but I really do have to get this paperwork in tonight, so I charmed the Prophet to levitate in front of him so he can read the quidditch scores. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that it isn't the section of the paper Hermione tends to focus on."

"Fair enough," laughed Alice. "Alright, Mr. Weasley, on three...one, two, three," and with that she pulled out the tubing, wiping it down as it came out.

"Ugh," commented Harry.

_You have no idea, mate._

"I know," said Alice. "But it does let us keep him fed and alive."

"Right."

"Well, I'll leave you two to keep visiting."

"Thanks."

Alice left, and Harry said he only had another thirty minutes of paperwork to do and then he'd be able to stay and visit with both Ron and Hermione when she got back. But, he knew Ron didn't care about anything else in the paper, so he moved him to be next to Harry at the table so he could show him what he was doing.

"See, I get that we need to fill out these three sections, but it's these last four pages that drive me nuts. All this parchment to record the exact same thing we did the week before and the week before that on these stakeout missions, and we still haven't arrested a single person."

As much as Ron actually was interested by the work Harry was showing him, he was too distracted to care. The problem was, as Harry was trying to show him what he was doing, he was no longer looking at Ron, so he hadn't yet noticed that Ron had a massive nosebleed from where the tube had been pulled out a short while earlier.

_Harry! Look up!_

Harry didn't look up, but instead pulled out a stack of parchment form the other side of his chair and started to sort through those looking for something specific.

_I'm not worried about dying of blood loss, but it sure makes it harder to breathe, Harry. And I do kind need the oxygen. Come on, Potter. Look over here. Cuz if I die on your watch, it'll be ugly. It would be a shame to have Hermione kill you after all we did to keep you alive this long._

"Ahhh, here it is," said Harry with a smile as he turned back to Ron. "See, Ron, this is what I wanted to show- what the? Fuck! Ron!" He went to grab some Kleenex and started to hold it up to Ron's nose to catch the blood but quickly caught himself, instead placing it on Ron's lap like a napkin as he rushed to the door to get Alice.

_Thank Merlin._

If he wasn't so grateful Alice was coming to the rescue, he could have been thoroughly enjoying the scene playing out in front of him. Harry was trying to run to keep up with the formidable witch, explaining desperately how he'd looked up and seen him and how he'd almost used a tissue but didn't, and Alice acted as if she didn't even notice Harry was there which was riling Harry up all the more. Silently and swiftly Alice cast the necessary spells to halt the bleeding, clear his airway and siphon the blood off of his clothes.

Then she crouched down to look Ron in the eye and asked, "I think that's about got it, Mr. Weasley. Sorry about that. We'll try some of the protective spray with your next set of nutritional potions this evening. Glad you're fine now as I am sure that had to be a bit alarming for you. But, you're alright now and your airway is nice and clear." Then she turned to face Harry and said, "and you need to relax. He's fine. You didn't hurt him. I can tell by the amount of blood that it hadn't been going that long. This does not make you a terrible friend. Take a deep breath, as I do not want to have to tell my superiors that I managed to lose Harry Potter on my shift, alright?"

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you," said a contrite Harry. Alice nodded and was quickly on her way.

"Sorry about that," Harry mumbled to Ron. "You must think I am a horrible git. Good thing Hermione didn't walk in in the middle of that."

"What are we glad Hermione didn't see?" a man's voice asked as they entered the room. Ron couldn't see who it was, but he quickly saw Harry's face light up.

"Neville! Am I so glad to see you and not Hermione right now!"

"Well, good, I think. Why? What did you do to Ron? Hi, Ron, by the way," he said with a quick nod.

_Hey, Nev._

"Oh, I guess I am just learning sitting with Ron in the hospital isn't exactly as easy as I had thought it would be. After the nurse pulled out the tube and left, his nose started bleeding pretty badly, but I was looking at all my paperwork and not him, so it went on longer than it should have and I kinda panicked. But Alice saved the day."

"As usual," laughed Neville. "She's amazing, that one. She's worked on this ward as long as I can remember. Some of the staff are terrified of her, but every single patient adores her, even the ones like my parents who have no idea what's going on. They just have come to know to trust her and that behind that stern outer shell there is a witch who is looking out for them and going to do absolutely everything to ensure they are safe and well care for."

"What a gift."

"Yeah. She's fantastic. When I was really young and I would come with my Gran I was so intimidated by how strange this place was. But, she took a keen interest in me and would always give me a task to do to 'help' out on the ward. Sometimes it was folding towels or sharpening quills or even alphabetizing potion bottles or something. She always knew how to help me feel useful and needed here. And then she would praise me in front of Gran for being such a good son to help out his parents and all of their neighbors. Made me feel twelve feet tall back then when Gran was still convinced I was a squib."

"Wow. I had no idea you had such a fantastic connection with her."

"Yeah, well, you know how it is, Harry. Kinda hard to talk about our parents when people think we know them, but we don't. And for me, this place was always wrapped up in that. Dunno if your awful Aunt's family is like that for you – home and not somehow." Harry thought for a moment.

"No, The Dursely's house was never home for me. It was an awful place, but I didn't realize how awful until after that summer before second year when Ron and the twins broke me out to stay with them for a bit. When I think of home, The Burrow and Hogwarts are all that I see."

"Fair. I guess Gran's house has been home, but yeah, Hogwarts – though that last year tainted that for sure."

"And now? Where is home these days, Nev?"

He blushed and laughed nervously. "Wherever Hannah is, I s'pose."

_Way to go, Nev!_

Harry laughed. "I'd heard about you two, but I didn't know you'd gotten that serious."

"Well, I dunno that we are yet, but I think we're headed that direction."

"That's great, Nev. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks. You and Gin still doing well, then?"

"Yeah, she's great," Harry said, a dreamy look going across his face.

_Watch it Potter. There are things I really don't want to know._

"But, haven't been able to see her much recently. And then – well – who knows. But it's going well. Don't want to say too much about her or Ron, here, is likely to get up from his wheel chair and kick my arse."

_Damn straight._

"Well," laughed Neville. "Maybe you should provide him with some proper motivation then!"

At that, both Gryffindors burst into laughter, which is how Hermione found them when she walked in a few moments later.

Ron could smell her shampoo before she'd even come through the door, and he instantly felt at ease having her back home. He caught himself thinking that the St. Mungo's ward for spell damage now felt like home, but it many ways it really was he and Hermione's first home alone together. He was inwardly beaming at her by the time she spoke.

"I didn't know you'd throw a party the second I left, Ron," she said lovingly, and then came and hugged him, pecking him on the cheek, letting her hand rub his chest and shoulder affectionately. "And good to see you, Neville. Always a wonderful surprise."

"Hello, Hermione," Neville said, standing up to give her a hug.

"Everything go ok while I was gone, Harry?"

Neville looked guiltily at Harry who had instantly turned beet red. "Well, yes, of course, though I may have momentarily panicked when he got the nose bleed you told me he might get. I didn't see it at first as we were sitting side by side at the table, but when I did I remembered what you said about the tissue and quickly fetched Alice and she got everything quickly sorted. Sorry."

"Why are you sorry? Sounds like you handled it."

_Hermione, please, it's Harry. He feels guilty about everything in the universe! Why would this be any different?_

"Oh, uh, I guess because he was a little bloody by the time I saw it and for panicking a little and, oh, bloody hell, Hermione, I don't know. I guess I feel guilty because that's what I do!"

_See._

"Well, seems to me that aside from picking up Ronald's proclivity for profanity, you have nothing to apologize for. And I really appreciated the day away. I got a tremendous amount done."

_Proclivity for profanity? Bloody hell, Hermione, you can even make swearing sound prim and proper. _

"Smells amazing, Hermione. Where is the take away from?"

"Oh! Right, well, this is actually from a muggle pub I used to go to all of the time with my dad. He would watch football on the tele and I would – well – I would read."

The boys laughed, and Hermione blushed, though she laughed as well.

_Hardly shocking to think of you reading in a pub,_ he laughed to himself. _Why did you go to that pub? Seems weird without your... Oh, but, you must have gone there because you miss your parents. I'm so sorry, Love. I'm sure it was hard going there today. I'm so sorry you had to do that alone._

"Anyway, the couple that run it, they are a bit like surrogate grandparents or something, so I decided to pop in on a whim." She looked sad for a moment, which broke Ron's heart, but then she recovered. "It was tough, but it was good to remember my parents with people who loved them. Of course, they think they just decided to move to Australia, but either way, it was good to visit with people who really knew them. And, well, they sent me home with more food than I could ever eat. Do any of you fancy some meat pies and chips?"

_Aaaaaahhhh_, Ron groaned internally. _You have no idea what I would do to taste that right now_.

Soon she was setting out plates for them on the table and setting up an impromptu dinner party. She walked around the table laying things out, she bent down and looked Ron in the eye. Then she laughed, leaned over and whispered in Ron's ear, "Don't worry. I saved some for you. Once these two are gone I'll get you some different tastes. And I got you a bunch of surprises on my outing today. Trust me. It's going to be a fun night. You'll need your energy." And with that she kissed his cheek again, but gave him a knowing wink, and she laughed when she saw his eyes darken slightly.

_She's going to be the death of me, this one is._

Dinner had been really fun. Ron couldn't recall the last time he had seen Hermione laugh and enjoy herself like that. As much as he loved having her with him all of the time, she really needed to get out more and spend time with friends. It wasn't healthy for her to be cooped up in here. His chair was still facing the table, but he could hear Hermione behind him saying goodbye to their friends and closing the door behind them.

_She'll probably be sad to see them go. I have to figure out how to be there for her after a day seeing her parents' old friends and then seeing Harry and Nev like old times, but then she ends up stuck in the depressing room at the end of the day with nothing but a lifeless body for company. I just don't know how to help her._

"Oh, I thought they'd never leave!" Hermione whispered as she shut the door behind them.

_Huh?_

Soon she was crouched right in front of him, and he could see there was an incredible spark alive in her eyes.

"So, yes, I need to tell you about my day, but first I have to tell you. I have had the most fantastic, amazing, wonderful idea. Now, admittedly, I could just beat my head against a door like Dobby used to do for not thinking of it earlier."

_Oh my bloody brilliant witch, you've figured it out!_

"And it's highly likely you've already had this idea, but it's taken me a conversation with my dad's old muggle friend at the pub to think of it. I need to learn legilimency! Now, I thought of mentioning it to Harry, but I decided it might be better if we work on this project just the two of us before we get anyone else too excited."

Then she stood straight up again and began pulling things out of her beaded bag and putting them around the room.

"I have to show you what all I got today. No doubt some of these could bore you worse than a lecture from Professor Binns, but I promise, I am saving the best for last."

She continued to ramble on about different text books and such, but then she got a gleam in her eyes.

"This one," she beamed. "This is a bag is from Honeydukes."

_You know me so well, Love_.

"And this one is full of things to keep you occupied while I read all of the legillemency books trying to learn this. So, I brought you several copies of quidditch magazines. I don't really know if they are the good ones to buy or not, but I'm hoping they're decent enough. And there may be one more surprise that I am going to keep for later. But I promise you'll love it."

_Fuck, I love you. _

"Oh Ron, we're close to solving this. I just know it. I can almost taste it."

Then she came over and sat on his lap, nuzzling her head against his chest. "Soon, Ron. Soon you can let me know what's going on in your head, and then we can solve this mystery together. I love you so much, Ron." With that she kissed his cheek tenderly, holding his head, raking her nails through his hair and kissing up along his jaw line, eventually taking his ear into her mouth. When she released it, she whispered, "soon, Ron. Soon you can tell me what you are thinking and what you want."

_Hermione, if I were to tell you what I am thinking right now, Love, you would have every right to smack my face for being such a randy git._

She moved his hand tighter around her, then guided one up her thigh until it rested at the crease, his fingers tucked between her legs.

_Hermione..._

"I know I shouldn't start things we can't finish right now. I just really missed you today. It's good to be home."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Hermione woke up in Ron's arms as she had for a few weeks now, smiling as she inhaled that wonderful smell of her amortentia. But this morning was different. Instead of lingering in the warmth of his arms that she had tugged around her, today she gave herself less than a minute to ease into the day. Then she tried to stealthily unwrap herself from his arms as she slunk out of the expanded bed. She knew that her movement may have awoken him, so she whispered gently to him as she pulled the blankets back up and over him.

"Go back to sleep, Ron. I'm just getting an early start today, but you have another couple hours until you have to get up." With that she kissed his forehead and headed to the loo to shower and get ready before she started her first legillemency book.

She quickly bathed and dried her hair with a charm before she slipped into her denim trousers and clean shirt along with her favorite jumper – one of Ron's old Christmas sweaters. With her hair pulled back in a tight plait to keep it out of her way, she was ready to get going, and the smile on her face betrayed her enthusiasm. Glancing at her watch, she saw it was still not yet 6 am. Knowing Ron would hate to be up that early, she quietly summoned the first book, lowered the lid of the toilet, and sat right there and began to read.

She'd decided to start with the book that gave the most history and theory behind the practice before she embarked on the more tactical books, as she'd found that approach most helpful for the way she learned other aspects of magic. She was engrossed in the material immediately, quickly deciding she needed to summon a quill and parchment to take notes as she read. She had almost a foot of notes when she heard noise coming from the hospital room.

"Hermione?" Alice called. "Are you alright?"

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry! I lost track of the time! Sorry about that Alice."

"You lost track of time in the bathroom? Are you feeling ill?"

"No, why – oh! No, not that! I woke up early and decided to read in the loo so I wouldn't wake Ron up. But, I guess I got engrossed in what I was reading so I didn't realize I should have had him up over half an hour ago!"

"Well, if it is fascinating enough to get you up before dawn and lose track of time while sitting and reading on a toilet, it must be some book."

"Well, yes, I think so. But most of my friends would probably tell you I would say that about most books."

Alice laughed. "Well, I'll take your word on it. Do you want to wake him up together, or shall I go ahead and see to my next patient first and then come back?"

"Um, if you could catheterize him, then I could do everything else this morning. And then you come back later with his nutritional potions."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure."

"Alright then. Hopefully we can have him taken care of in less time than you've spent in the loo this morning, yeah?"

"Yeah," Hermione laughed.

As soon as Alice left, Hermione was all business in getting him ready for the day. She quickly had him washed, dressed and up in his chair.

"No time for a shower this morning, not even one where all we really do is get you clean and wash your hair," she smirked.

_I love it when you blush like that._

"There is much too much to do. So, I was able to read the first book this morning and really think I have some of the basic theory down. I'll spare you the details, but the concepts are quite simple, really."

_Our definitions of 'really quite simple' have never actually lined up, you know._

"Our thoughts and emotions and senses that we use to make memories all run along our neurological pathways. Little synapses communicating through chemical and electrical reactions that send information all over our bodies. Then – well this is slightly oversimplified but I think pretty close - then the energy that our body uses to send those signals to our brain to remember things like 'ouch – when I touched the burning lantern it hurt so I won't touch the lantern again,' or like 'when I am nice to my little sister she seems happier, so I might do that more.'

_Uh huh. If I could roll my eyes at you right now I absolutely would._

"Or something like that. Anyway, that energy travels through you with your thoughts and memories. And, just like I can touch you and feel the warmth of your skin because your body is releasing that energy through heat, I can eventually learn to feel your memories in the energy coming from your body as well. It's just that the legillemens spell helps amplify my body's ability to sense and interpret that energy. Similarly, the occulemens work that Harry did was not to not release energy from his body, but to block the ability of anyone to absorb it correctly. That was how he could either block Voldemort out or mislead him with a false memory."

_I don't think he ever really achieved that skill like you thought he did. I think he just got too scared of you yelling at him so he stopped telling us about it. But, regardless, I think I see your point._

"BUT, by practicing skill in occulemency, one truly becomes more in touch with the energy their body gives off and the ability to manage it. Don't you see? "

_Clearly not. _

"It's not just about managing it to make the sense or the memory harder to pick up, but if you get good at managing it, you can also make the sense or memory easier to pick up. Isn't that fantastic?"

_Huh? I guess so, though not at the top of my list of fantastic things in the world._

"I mean it really is brilliant actually. It's all about learning to control the energy you give off or take in, it is as simple as that in the end."

_Yeah. No worries. I'll just re-think my earlier comment about our ideas of what is simple not being remotely the same thing. _

"So the wonderful part about that is that you can be working on how to manage the memories or thoughts through the energy that you are giving off at the same time I am focusing on how to learn to better tune into those memories. Then it should only take half the time since we'll meet in the middle. Just like when the Americans started building train tracks across the continent – one started in the east and worked west. One started in the west and worked east and they met in Kansas somewhere. So – if we both work at it, we can do the same thing!"

_I'm assuming you don't mean you want us to meet in Kansas. But, yeah, I get that if I get better and you get better, we figure it out quicker. But what I don't know is how you want us to do that._

_"_And, if the structure of the spell that I understand is correct, I think it can also be used to understand not only past memories, but also the memory as you make it."

_What in the bloody hell is she getting at?_

"In other words, the snarky comments I am sure are going through your head right now about my elaborate theory are really senses that you are using to make a memory right now."

_Sure, snarky comments and mental eye rolls she can understand. The fact that there is a counter-curse, not so much._

"So - if we do it correctly, I should be able to not only get to your past memories, but to your current memories in the making. In other words, we should be able to communicate non verbally!"

_Oh. Well. Shite. That is bloody brilliant. Should have known she's a ruddy genius._

"But, you know I had a really funny thought this morning as I was pondering all of this. We're going to have to come up with some sort of test to be sure we are doing this right. And I can't just tell you what to think and then see if I can pick that up. Because then I don't really know if that's from me or you. So, you need to think of something I don't know, or a memory you have of something that happened when I wasn't there. And even better would be some memory that Harry or Gin or one of your brothers shares with you but I don't so I can somehow eventually prove to them that we are really able to communicate."

_Please don't say the locket. Please don't say the locket. Please don't say the locket._

"So as you start to work all through all of this, please start thinking about some memories or ideas that might work. Maybe it's a few different things. I'm not sure really –but that is a problem that really you will have to solve."

_Brilliant. I'll just jot that down on my to-do list._

"You know, maybe I should start a list for you – maybe charm it so only we can see it. That way you can see your to-do list and know the things you need to be working on in your down time."

_Yes. Yes, Hermione. That's exactly what I want. A special secret to-do list. I mean, really. It's like suddenly you're acting as if you don't even know me. We've been on this Thickney Ward way too long._

"Now, don't be cheeky, Ronald Bilius Weasley."

_How could I do something to deserve a scolding with my whole name when I said nothing and can't move? Maybe you already are a legillemens after all._

"I know you hate lists and such, but this is too important. The faster we can do this, the faster I get you back." Then she sighed and the light left her face a bit as she added, "and, well, I really need you back, Ron." Then the wistful moment passed and she pronounced, "Right. So, let's get cracking."

_Ok. Great. But I still don't really understand what we're supposed to do._

"I actually picked up some office things yesterday so we can get organized. So, give me a few minutes to set up the new bookcase and filing system, and then I will get us started."

He inwardly grinned. He loved that there was this core part of her – this soul with an unending thirst for knowledge and understanding combined with a brilliant mind that could create order and logic out of anything. And this core of her soul had been the same when she was eleven and researching Nicolas Flammel as it was when she was eighteen and living in a tent with two boys and a horcrux as it was now as a beautiful young woman stuck in a hospital room. He'd had enough experience with his amazing witch to know that she would absolutely figure this out. Now it was just a matter of putting in the time, effort and work.

After a bit, Hermione had managed to turn the space into something that looked like a research library that happened to have an oddly placed furniture in it. She'd temporarily transfigured the hospital bed into a small sofa near a coffee table where she had her papers spread out. She had Ron across the coffee table from her. She'd positioned him at such an angle that he could read from a stand she'd placed at eye level so he could read but she could still see his eyes and his face.

"Let's see, I know it was in here somewhere," she muttered as she reached so far into her little beaded bag that he couldn't see. She rummaged around for a few minutes muttering things every now and then until she finally said, "ah ha! I knew I hadn't thrown it out."

Then she excitedly held up a ratty old book as if it was the Hogwarts House Cup. "This! This is what I was looking for," she pronounced as she stood up and walked over to the stand in front of Ron. She placed the book on the stand and opened it to what appeared to be chapter 1. "This is one of the books Dumbledore had given Harry to read when he was trying to learn occulemency from Snape sixth year. After the war I tried to give it back to Harry, and he said the memories around it were so bad he would really rather not keep it. So, me being me, I stored it in my bag. I'll charm the book so it turns its own page every five minutes. If that seems like the wrong time, well, I guess you need to learn this stuff so you can correct me," she stated plainly.

_You are being quite the smart-arse today, Hermione. I can't decide if it is amusing, annoying or arousing. Or maybe all three._

"Meanwhile, I am going to read through these. When Alice comes back with your potions we can take a break, and then we can work for the rest of the morning. Then maybe take a break midday and get out and get some fresh air on the roof, and if it's warm enough to read out there for a while we could try that."

_Well, I promise to try. I can't promise I won't actually fall asleep with my eyes open at some point. But I can promise I am eternally grateful._

"I know this is hard, and maybe a bit grueling at times. So, if you look really beat later you can take a kip for a bit while I keep reading. But, I promise we will take a fun break later, OK?"

_Ok. Whatever you say, Hermione. I trust you. You're doing an amazing job, and I'm so proud of you. Can't wait to be able to tell you that myself one of these days._

"OK, then. Let's get to work," and with that she charmed his book and then curled up on the sofa and got back to her own reading.

Ron tried hard to focus on the book. It was hard to read without being able to move your eyes at all, so he tired quickly and would let his eyes blur out for a few minutes and then try again. He didn't follow everything it said, but he felt like he was getting the general gist. He had just finished the first chapter when Hermione stood up and marked his page.

"You look like your eyes are really straining," she said gently. "I hadn't thought about how hard it must be to try to read without moving your eyes at all. Why don't you let me close your eyes for twenty minutes or so? This way you can think back on the chapter you just read and begin practicing the basics, ok?" With that she gently closed his eyes, and then every so lightly kissed his closed eyelids.

The day continued on that same pattern – he'd try to read a while and then take a break – sometimes resting, sometimes just watching her work. She powered on like a trooper reading and taking notes whenever they weren't consumed with regular physiotherapy exercises or his potion regimen. He had forgotten what an amazingly fast reader she was. He'd seen it so much in school, but in their time on the horcrux hunt, they were all re-reading and re-reading things a hundred times looking for details they may have missed. This voracious hunger for new knowledge was cause for super-speed reading. By the dinner she had completed two full books and was more than half way through a third. Ron was still plodding his way through the one book, but he felt like he'd really accomplished more that day more than he had in months.

Alice had long ago come in and said good bye for the day, and Ursula was the evening shift nurse on today. She was relatively new to both the unit and to nursing, and had never had Ron as a patient before. And she was clearly not sure quite how to handle two famous war heroes, one who she thought was more or less lifeless, and one who rearranged the furniture into a study center.

_Poor thing. She's trying to keep her cool, but it isn't working_, he chuckled to himself.

"Good evening, Ms. Granger. What an interesting arrangement in here. Alice told me you had been busy as a bee in here today."

"Yes, we have both been busy today. So much to read, so little time," Hermione said in her 'let's hurry this up' voice."

"Quite," Ursula said awkwardly.

"Did you bring his nutritional potions, Ursula?"

"What? Oh – yeah, I mean yes. I'm going to administer them now, and then we can get him into bed."

"Well, it's only half six, so way too early for him to go to bed quite yet. It would be too early even if he was four years old. But, I am sure he would appreciate the dinner. But other than the potions, I can handle getting most things settled for the evening but will need help making sure he is catheterized before he goes to bed – at a normal hour for someone in their 20s. Surely Esther and Melissa let you know about Ron's regular routine, right? If not I can help fill you in, or I am sure you can ask them as well."

_Oh Hermione, I think she understands who's in charge around here. And it isn't her, and it sure as hell isn't me._

"Oh, right. Yes. Sorry, Ms. Granger. I thought he might be especially tired after such a busy day and a changed routine and all. But clearly you have that under control. Let me get these potions administered, and then I'll leave you two to it."

"Wonderful. Thank you, so much, Ursula."

An hour or so later the potions had been completed and Ron was starting to get bored of reading. But suddenly Hermione announced that they were done working for the day.

"Despite Ursula trying to send us off to bed like toddlers," she smirked. "I have another idea. I want to try something different, so I'm going to watch your eyes really closely to see how it goes. If it hurts or makes you anxious or anything, I hope I see it in your eyes, alright?"

_Alright, but now you're making me nervous._

"Nothing terrible, just want to try having you stretch out and snuggle on the sofa. I'd love to lay leaning against your chest, but I'd worry I couldn't see your eyes. So, we'll figure something out, alright?"

_Yeah, brilliant._

Soon she had them snuggled on the couch which had been expanded. And, instead of coming up with some weird way to sit, his brilliant witch had snuggled in his arms as usual and had the genius idea of simply conjuring a mirror so that she could see his eyes anyway.

"Ok, now for the real surprise."

_Us snuggling on a couch like we haven't done in months wasn't the surprise?_

"Accio wireless," she said as she flicked her wand towards her beaded bag.

_You didn't..._

She levitated the wireless over to set it on the coffee table next to the couch. Soon she was fiddling with the dial, but the volume was turned down.

She grinned at him, "Cannons are playing tonight."

_Bloody hell, you did! You're so fucking incredible, Hermione. _

"Now, admittedly, I may nod off. But I am not going to read as my eyes need a break too. And, honestly, laying here in your arms listening to quidditch feels so amazingly normal. Can't think of much better."

_Nope. You dozing in my arms while I listen to quidditch? Only thing that could make it even more amazing would be if the Cannons won. But I'm not going to be greedy. Life is too good right now._

As it turned out, the Cannons lost rather quickly, but Ron felt like himself again. He was stretched out on the couch holding his sleeping girlfriend and listening to quidditch. Eventually Ursula came back in and was slightly caught off guard to see Ron on the couch holding a sleeping Hermione.

_Oh, Ursula. Sorry. Wish I could tell you to just leave us here as we are, but you'd never believe that anyway. Not to mention I've really got to piss. I just hate to wake her. And this has been so bloody amazing._

"What am I supposed to do now?" Ursula muttered quietly to herself. "Put the patient to bed, they said. Well, it would be a lot easier if there was an actual bed!"

She looked like she was initially going to try to extricate Ron from Hermione, but then after a few attempts to move his arms she realized that would never work. Admitting defeat, she decided to wake Hermione.

"Ms. Granger," she whispered loudly as she patted Hermione's leg. But Hermione didn't flinch. Nervously Ursula tried again, "Ms. Granger?" with a louder voice, and Hermione bolted up.

"I'm up," Hermione said quickly, convincing no one of her state of awake-ness. "Hang on, give me a sec, she mumbled.

"So sorry to have woken you, Ms. Granger, but it's quite late. I thought Mr. Weasley probably needed to be catheterized as it has been quite a long time."

"Oh, oh, yes, of course, you are absolutely right. Thank you for thinking of him for me. It had slipped my mind completely."

"No problem," Ursula said, clearly surprised by the compliment and kind words from Hermione. "Why don't you go to the loo yourself while I take care of Mr. Weasley. Then when you're done we can figure out if you want to stay on the couch or if we should transform it back into a bed."

"Thanks, Ursula," Hermione said as she grabbed her bag. "I appreciate it."

Before too long, they were both ready for bed, and so was the actual bed. Hermione had said to transform it back so that she wouldn't be too tempted to nap on the couch the next day. But Ron just chuckled to himself knowing it would never have kept him from kipping on the sofa.

Hermione had them arranged in their new normal sleeping position with him curled up behind her, her back to his front and his arms wrapped around her. She had gently closed his eyes and had whispered goodnight a few minutes prior and Ron was starting to fall asleep. But then he felt a weird tickle – but not on his skin. More or less it felt like someone was tickling the air around his head. Panicking, he willed his eyes to open, but they wouldn't cooperate. After a few terror-filled moments Hermione sighed.

"Should have known better than to think I could do it after only a day."

_Holy shite. That was you? How the hell did you do that? Maybe the first try shouldn't be wandless and non-verbal, love. I bet if you'd said it out loud and with a wand it might have worked._

"But mark my words, Ron. It won't be long until I can find you. It almost feels like I am digging through layers of something to find you hidden somewhere."

_Yeah. Buried alive in my own dead body. But you are coming to get me any day now. _

"But I am really close. But also exhausted. I'm going to sleep now, but I want to actually work on practicing soon."

_You are close, Hermione. So close. I could feel you bustling around the edge of my thoughts. Soon I can tell you how fucking amazing you are. Maybe even tomorrow. But, blimey, I have so many things to say I don't know what I should say first. Huh. I should spend some time thinking of that. Would you believe it if Marry Me? was first? Yeah, possibly not. But I have to stop thinking of it as my only shot to get a message through. Once you figure this out we can be communicating all of the time. You are going to get so sick of me. I'm already sick of me, but somehow you're still here. Fuck, I love you, Hermione. Wow – tomorrow – it could really be tomorrow? Fuck, now I'll never get to sleep. Too excited!_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The next morning Hermione had them up-and-at-it early, quickly transforming the room back into their work room. Ron was exhausted, though of course no one could tell. He'd been up half the night vacillating between excitement about the possibility of communicating the next day, a strange terror at what the change would mean for them and if Hermione would somehow decide she didn't want the real Ron, only the Ron she had been imagining all this time. And finally, he'd worried about his family, wondering if mind reading with a lifeless body was easier or harder than just burying one and moving on. Somehow he could handle his mum not coming when everyone told her he was braindead. But if she still didn't come when they learned he was still here, it would kill him, and he knew it.

The book page flipped in front of him and he realized he had zoned out and hadn't read a single word on the prior pages. Good thing she couldn't read his mind yet because he could imagine the lecture she'd be giving him now.

_Focus Weasley, he chastised himself, trying to draw his attention back to the occulemency book in front of him. _

But then he was distracted by Hermione sighing from the couch. "This is the fifth book on legillimency in two days, and it's getting to the point where I'm not finding any new material. Quite disappointing, actually. You would think these books would be written to add something new, not just re-state what is already out there. What's the point?" She closed the book and got up, stretching and cracking her back. "I need a loo break anyway. Be right back."

He heard her get up and head to the loo which was behind him and out of the line of site. He chuckled to himself thinking about the loo, as his real wish was that Hermione would decide to take a shower break for the two of them. Mentally smacking himself he tried to focus on the task at hand. His eyes had blurred over a while ago, and he had given up on reading for now and instead had been trying to figure out a good message to communicate to Hermione that could be a "test" of their new skills.

The most obvious secret that he and Harry had that Harry knew she didn't know was the locket. But he really didn't want the first thing he could communicate to her to be that. Then he thought about the first time he accidentally let his feelings about Hermione slip in a conversation with Harry, but he wasn't actually sure Harry caught it or would remember, so that didn't make a good approach either. It was strange thinking about how little of his life was not shared with the two of them. Then his mind had hopped over to things he could communicate that she could "test" with his family, but that didn't seem like a good plan as they weren't really talking to her these days.

Maybe he would have to do like he usually did and just wing it. In all honesty, right now he was less concerned about proving it to anyone else and more focused on telling her the things that felt the most important – simple things, but important. Phrases like _thank you, I'm so sorry, you're amazing_ or other things like that.

She returned from the bathroom and looked like she had taken the time to splash her face with water as she looked fresher or something. Instead of resuming her spot on the couch, she walked back around to where he was.

"I want to try this stuff a little. It's all so theoretical right now that it hardly feels real. So, I think we'll park you here, and I'll sit right in front of you here," she said as she sat herself cross-legged on the coffee table facing him.

"Oh! Almost forgot," she said as she hopped back up and headed to the other side of the room. Ron heard her rummaging in her beaded bag for a moment and then pull something out Ron couldn't see from where he sat. Then she came back over and resumed her spot on the coffee table.

"I don't know if you can use this, or if it will do any good in helping either of us, but I can't imagine it would make it harder. So, why not?"

He still couldn't see what she had as he couldn't look down, but then he felt the most amazing thing. She'd put his wand in his hand. If he could have, he would have been weeping at the feel of it. He'd forgotten how smooth the one spot was where his thumb hit. As she placed it in his hand and charmed his hand tight around it he could feel his magic as he hadn't felt it since the accident. It wasn't quite the same, but he could feel it trying to flow through him again. The sensation reminded him of his dad's old muggle artifacts. It was like some of those crazy machines that would slowly get oiled and begin to turn, squeaking and protesting, but as his dad would crank the handle or whatever mechanism it was, the gears would go faster and smoother. It felt amazing. Just as he was beginning to wonder if he could do non-verbal magic while holding it, Hermione moved so that her face was all he could really see.

"OK, let's just give it a shot. Knowing me, I'll be frustrated in five minutes, but I want to try to make myself stick with it for an hour. We'll see. OK, deep breath – well – whatever, you know what I mean."

Then she closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath and with the bossy eleven year old girl voice he loved, she moved her hand in the complicated motion, declaring "legillimens!" as she looked deep in his eyes.

All of his pondering about what message to focus on flew out the window. There he was, staring directly into her beautiful brown eyes. The little flecks of gold were sparkling like they did when her brain was firing on all cylinders. She wasn't smiling, but Ron could tell she was enjoying the focused challenge.

And all he could think was, _I love you so fucking much. So much. You have no idea how grateful I am. I love you. I love you. I love you._

He felt the tickling of his brain as he had the night before, but this time he didn't fight it, but instead tried to will his thoughts to move towards that feeling.

_Come on, Hermione. Hear me. I love you so much. I know you can do this. I love you, you brilliant witch._

The sensation in his head was intensifying, but then she huffed loudly, broke eye contact and lowered her wand.

"Sorry. Sorry. My fault. It feels, I don't know. It feels like something is happening. Like my head itches or something. So strange. Sorry. OK. Again."

This pattern of her trying and getting frustrated and giving up and then trying again went on for almost an hour. By then they were both aggravated. Ron just wanted her to take a break. It was getting them nowhere. She was clearly about to try again when there was knock at the door, and a small house elf came in with tea cart.

"Would Ms. Granger like tea?"

"Um, yes. Thank you, Essie. Tea may be just what I need. Something calming though if you have it."

"Of course, Miss," said the elf as she made the tea cup appear. "Biscuit?"

"No, um – wait – yes, I will take a biscuit, please."

_Thank you. Maybe you can read my mind._

"Anything else, Ms. Granger?"

"May I ask you a strange question?"

"Of course, Miss."

"How did you know to come bring tea now? I really needed it I think, and I was just curious how you knew when to come."

"Well, I always does rounds of the rooms at tea time, Miss."

"But you don't come every day."

"I don't come in your room every day because you don't want tea on those days."

"How do you know?"

"I is a house elf, Miss. I know what witches and wizards want so I can give it to them."

"But how? How do you realize it?"

"I sorry, Miss. I don't understand what you ask. All I know is Essie comes every day and goes to each door, and then I know if someone inside needs tea. And when they do, I knock and ask."

"Why ask if you already know?"

"Someone told me it was rude to assume I am not wrong."

"Are you ever wrong?"

"I don't think so."

"Can you show me how you do it?"

"Miss is wanting to serve tea to the other patients?"

"No, no – I mean I can if you need help, but – could you just pretend you are outside the room and show me what you do?"

"OK," the elf agreed.

_Hermione what are you getting at? Let the poor house elf go pour tea for Lockhart._

Essie walked up to the door, placed her palm flat against the door and closed her eyes, and then knocked.

"That's it, Miss. Does that help?"

"YES!" beamed Hermione. "Yes it does!" With that she hugged the bewildered little elf. "Thank you so much, Essie. You have been amazing."

"Essie is happy to help, Miss. Even if Essie doesn't know how I helped." And with that she backed out of the room and closed the door behind her.

"I HAVEN'T TRIED THIS AT THE SAME TIME I'M TOUCHING YOU!" she yelped excitedly. "Could it be that simple? Makes sense – like the old tv bunny ears when you would touch them they would tune faster." She muttered.

_What in the hell are you talking about? What bunny? How did babbity rabbit make his way into this suddenly bizarre conversation which was, admittedly, already pretty strange? _

Clearly not reading his confusion, Hermione was smiling excitedly and sat back on the table. She made sure Ron's hand was closed around his wand and took a slow cleansing breath. Then she held Ron's free hand in her non-wand hand and cast the spell with her other "legillimens!"

Ron focused hard, holding her deep gaze with all of his energy. The tickling sensation started, and then it got deeper, and he actually felt the hairs on his arms and neck stand up straight.

_You're doing it, Hermione, I know you are. I love you so much. I love you so fucking much, Hermione. So fucking much! I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. _

Then there was this strange sensation of a sound portal opening up and letting in a rush of air, but he knew it was all in his head. Momentarily distracted by this loud sound, he stopped focusing on his words at all. It was as if someone had opened a back door and suddenly this huge draft of cold air was blowing around in his brain. He was so startled by it, he couldn't think of anything else. Then he heard it.

_"Ron? Ron are you here?_"

He wanted to blink as he was sure he just heard her speak, but her mouth hadn't moved.

_"Ron, it's Hermione. Are you here? Is this where you've been? Or am I in the wrong place?"_

_"Hermione? Is it really you? Can you hear me?" _

He could feel every ounce of his soul holding its breath as he strained his brain to connect with hers.

_"Ron? Say it again. I think – I think I might have heard you, but I can't be sure. I know I want to hear it so badly I may have made it up."_

_"Hermione! You've done it! I'm here. I've been here all along. I'm right here."_

_"RON? Really?"_

_"I love you so fucking much, Hermione Granger. So fucking much!"_

_"Language, Ronald,"_ she said in his head, which he returned with a hearty mental laugh.

Ron continued to look into her brown eyes, and he could see they were quickly filling up with tears. Her mouth stayed shut, but he heard her again.

_"How can I know this is real? How do I know I haven't just gone one step closer to madness?"_ the voice in his head asked.

_"Because you're Hermione Granger, and you are the brightest witch of your age, and you can do anything. And I am the luckiest fucking bloke on the planet. Don't cry, love. I never know what to do when you cry."_

"_Sorry_," the voice said.

_"I love you so much. If I never get to say anything else – know that. Know how much I love you. And I am so, so grateful for you."_

With that she blinked heavily and tears spilled down her cheek, but the blink ended their shared gaze, and suddenly the connection was over.

_"Hermione? Hermione? Are you still here? Can you still hear me?"_

There was silence, and he panicked for a moment wondering if he'd dreamt it up. But then she looked up at him again. She made a futile attempt to wipe the tears from her face and then let out a huge sob. And before he could register her motion, she flung herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, moving so she was in his lap and curled into his chest.

"I have missed you so much!" she sobbed, and then dissolved fully into tears, her words no longer discernable.

But he didn't care. She'd heard him. She knew. She knew. She knew he was there. She knew he loved her. Nothing else mattered.

She wasn't sure how long she sat on his lap crying into his chest, but it had to have been quite a while. His shirt was soaked with her tears, and she knew she looked a fright, but she didn't care. She'd done it. She'd found a way to crack through it, and he was there. He was there! He loved her. She wasn't alone after all. She'd lost her parents. Harry was dear but never around. And some days she was convinced she was going mad, but she'd been right. He was still there. She was loved. And she was going to move heaven and earth to bring him back. But first she just needed to be held.

Eventually her sobs dwindled to small hiccoughs. Her eyes were crusty with the salt of her tears, and she felt like a wrung out flannel that had been balled up and left on the floor. She was so emotionally exhausted, and yet at the same time she was so excited and so encouraged. She couldn't decide if she wanted to fall asleep or get back in Ron's head. She moved her hand up to stroke his cheek and pulled back to look in his eyes again.

"Sorry about that," she laughed nervously. "I'm just so happy and relieved and every other emotion I can think of. Guess I was bound to have a little breakdown at some point, huh? I should probably get off your lap in case I'm crushing you or cutting off circulation or something."

She stood again, but held his gaze. Then she said, "Ok. I need a drink of water, and then I'm going to splash some water on my face to try and wash all of these salty tears off before I scare one of the nurses. Then maybe we can try again, huh?" She smiled and kissed his cheek before she left him.

Once in the bathroom she looked at herself in the mirror and could hardly believe it. She'd done it. She looked both worse than she'd pictured and yet even happier than she had imagined. She washed her face and drank a glass of water before deciding she had gotten her head back out of the emotional abyss and was ready to try again.

She walked back out and looked at him, sitting still as a statue in his wheel chair facing away from her. Well, first things first, she thought. I need to figure out if he's in pain or how I can help him be more comfortable. Then we'll get to start figuring everything out after that.

"Ok, I'm back," she said. She noted how it suddenly felt different somehow, but she still couldn't quite figure out what had shifted. "I thought we could try it again. Now that I have a sense of what I'm doing maybe I can be less shocked by it and get to actually hear from you a little more, yeah?"

She sat back down on the table, checked his wand in his hand, calmed herself with a few deep breaths and reached out for his hand. "Ready? Here we go. Legillimens!"

She gripped his hand and stared into those perfectly blue eyes. It was so strange to be watching him and yet at the same time feel almost like she had left her body and fallen into his mind. She was swimming through the energy around him trying to find her way back to where she'd heard him. In her head she kept calling for him as she moved through the layers of buzzing and static searching for that hidden hole into his mind.

"_Ron? Ron? You need to call out for me, Ron. I can't find you yet. I'm not sure which way to go to get closer to wherever you are,"_ she thought.

She heard a noise that reminded her of when she missed the station on the wireless and had to turn the knob back slowly, so she mentally retreated a tiny bit to what felt like a different frequency and called out again.

"_Ron? Ron? Where are you_?"

".._.here,_" she heard him say.

It was as if she had caught the tail end of his sentence. But, now she had a place to focus.

"_Almost found you, keep talking._"

_"I'm right here. Sorry I'm total rubbish at this, but there aren't words to describe how happy I am right now."_

_"Found you!"_ she squealed in her head, feeling the smirk on her face at hearing the voice in her head squeal like a little girl.

_"Don't laugh so hard you lose my eyes, ok? Not ready to let you go yet."_

"_So you can see? I – I wasn't sure what you could see or hear or feel."_

_"All of it. All of my senses are working perfectly. Better than they used to actually. I just can't make anything react to the instructions my brain tries to send."_

"_So you heard my theory about locked in syndrome?"_

_"Yeah. Brilliant you are. I think that's exactly what it is. Crabbe said it was a punishment-"_

"_Wait, what? Crabbe? But he died in the Room of Requirement_."

_"No, no – it was his father. He's the one who orchestrated all of this. I had thought you knew that until a few weeks ago when Harry made a comment about wanting to figure out who did this."_

"_Ok, ok. I want to hear everything – but first I want to know if you're in pain or if there's anything I can do for you."_

_"Anything you can do for me? Hermione, you've done everything for me! You've been bloody amazing. If you hadn't believed in me I would have simply rotted away here. Not only that but you keep fighting for me. You've been brilliant. Especially these last few weeks. Sleeping on my side with you in my arms has been so much better. My back had been killing me."_

_"I knew it! I told the nurses that, but they said I should let them do their jobs."_

_"Well, yeah, not shocking that you're right, of course. It's just I can't figure out if you should be a healer or if you are just that in tune with me that you can just sort of sense what I need. Whatever it is, I am grateful."_

_"I'm so sorry I haven't been able to get your family to believe me,"_ she said sadly in her head.

_"That's ok. You've tried, and you didn't give up. And I can't blame them. I know all of this after everything with Fred was just too much. They needed to feel like they could heal."_

_"And, well, you know – when I did finally figure out you were in there it wasn't like I could tell anyone how I figured it out."_

_"Who knew me being a randy git would ever potentially save me, huh?"_

She laughed in her head, her actual shoulders shaking as she beamed at him.

_"I love you so much,"_ she said.

_"I know. And I love you, too, Hermione. And I've been so lucky you've stuck by my side. And at the same time I've been so worried about you. Sleeping in that awful chair all those months, never leaving this place for weeks on end. Not eating right. One minute I was thinking I'd die if you left, and the next I was thinking I would do anything to save you from this place. Please take care of yourself, ok? You've lost some of the weight you worked so hard to gain back. Eat more, ok? Promise me?"_

She bit her physical lips but nodded. _"I promise,_" she said in her head to him. "_But what is best for me is to get you back. I need you Ron. I always knew I did, but I don't think I realized how much I actually need you."_ She could feel the tears welling back in her eyes.

_"No you don't. Don't start crying; I don't want to lose the connection again."_

_"Sorry,"_ she said wiping her eyes with her wand hand. "_Ok, where should we start? What do I need to change about your physiotherapy or potions or..."_

_"Whoa, there. My turn_," he chuckled. She could have sworn his eyes sparkled for a moment as the laughter almost hit his face. _"You've gotten to do all of the talking for months now. I have a lot of catching up to do!"_

_"Fair point,"_ she laughed in her head. _"Ok – what do you want me to know?"_

_"Ok – practical stuff first ok? Those feeding tubes hurt like hell when they go in and out. I don't want to just leave them there all of the time, but could they use numbing spray or something on it? And I definitely need some sort of potion to help my nose after that to help avoid the nosebleeds. One time Alice did a spray thing when Harry was here, and that was brilliant. Can you ask about that?"_

_"Of course. What else?"_

_"Thank you for the food. I was missing tastes. The sugar quill was perfect. Maybe we could figure out how to transfigure some other stuff into that kind of lollipop thing. Or maybe wrap the real food in cloth or something so I can taste but not swallow? Or maybe we could figure out how to help me swallow like they do to make me breathe and blink?"_

_"Huh. Excellent point. Sorry I hadn't thought of that already. But, yeah. Brilliant."_

_"Don't apologize. I've had a lot of time to ponder these things. Trust me."_

_"This is really real isn't it? I'm not mad?"_

_"So real. And you're brilliant."_

_"Ok, Ok. Sorry – hard to believe, you know? What else?"_

_"The only other big thing I want to ask about is the wheelchair."_

_"Is it uncomfortable?"_

_"No, no, not really. But I get so bloody stiff. I thought it was so amazing to get to be on the couch yesterday. I was able to be in a position that wasn't sitting in my chair or laying in the bed. Just sitting differently, or crossing my legs sometimes or something. Just helps a lot to move like you would if you were sitting all day."_

_"Of course, wow – another obvious thing I missed. So, we'll work on the feeding tube stuff and get a nose spray, we'll figure out the food tasting stuff and work on making sure to shift your positions throughout the day. Anything else?"_

_"You don't think that's enough to start with?"_

_"What else, Ron? I've been desperate to do anything to help you. Are you in pain at all?"_

_"Not anymore. I was at first, but now the only pain is from stiffness from being so still and the nose tube, I think. The other stuff is all minor in comparison, and we'll deal with later if need be."_

_"But if its bothering you we need to fix it,"_ she protested, physically frowning at him to emphasize her frustration.

_"Well, my hair does feel especially oily, and I'm thinking I really need to be sure my hair is washed every day_," he internally smirked.

That had her laughing and shaking her head side to side, but she tried hard not to break contact with his eyes or release his hand. Finally she said, _"Well, I suppose I can see to that too. We wouldn't want your scalp to get irritated from being too oily from dirty hair."_

_"Nope. That'd be tragic."_

_"Uh huh."_ She paused and knew her expression shifted with her emotion.

_"What is it Hermione? What's wrong?"_

_"Nothing! You're talking! Well, I know what you're saying anyway. It feels amazing. And yet at the same time I have no idea what to do now."_

_"Didn't we just make you a big to do list?"_

_"No – I mean yes – I mean, not that, I meant what do I do to get you back in the land of the living. I've been so focused on step one I had conveniently blocked everything else out."_

_"Well, first, I am in the land of the living. Never left. Just having some trouble talking and moving and everything. But I'm here. As for the rest of it – we'll get there. I know it. We've solved tougher problems. We'll figure this out."_

_"You're assuming it's even possible."_

_"I know it's possible. Crabbe told me there was a way out."_

_"Oh my God, tell me!"_

_"Not that easy unfortunately. I know there is a way – I just don't know what it is. Bastard said he was going to tell me and then remove the memory, which he did."_

_"Why? What's the point of that?"_

_"Cruelty. Pure and simple cruel torture. He wanted me to remember that I knew and go insane trying to remember while I rotted away in my body."_

_"That is so twisted."_

_"Yes, but not really out of character, huh?"_

_"I guess not."_

_"Yeah – he's as kind and loving as his son, but also a heck of a lot smarter."_

_"I'm catching onto that."_

_"So – we need to eventually figure that out, and I know we will. But not today."_

_"Why?"_

_"Because I'm too happy to waste my energy thinking about Crabbe today. I just want to talk with you and never stop."_

_"You know we'll have to take breaks, right?"_

_"Yeah. I know. But – it's still amazing. And I have a few things I have to say first, or maybe just want you to know."_

_"Such as?"_

_"Such as - well - I saw everything that day – after he cursed me. I was frozen in my body and had to watch every blow and every curse they threw at you. And you were so incredibly strong. I have no idea how you not only survived but managed to get the wands and then to me and then somehow get us to the hotel and send a patronus to Harry."_

_"Oh, Ron, you were conscious that whole time?"_

"_Yeah_," he said sadly. _"And I couldn't close my eyes. I had no choice but to watch you take it and hear you suffer through it. But I was trying so hard to have you feel my love and strength throughout the whole thing. You are so amazing Hermione. You always hear people talk about how you should have been Ravenclaw. But you are the toughest, bravest, most courageous, most loyal, most brilliant person I've ever known or even heard of. I am so in awe of you. And when you finally passed out at the hotel I want you to know I stayed conscious and held you until Harry got there. I don't know why it felt important for me to do at the time. But, it felt like the least I could do after you rescued us. But – once Harry arrived, well, then I passed out and I believe I lost a few weeks in time. So – I guess I just needed to be sure you knew you were never alone. I might have been bloody useless, but I was there with you. I know you had to feel so, so abandoned. And I am so sorry you had to go through that. How you managed what you did – well, I still don't know how you did it. So – thank you."_

They were both quiet then, simply staring into each other's eyes, neither able to find words appropriate for such a moment.

Finally, Hermione said, _"I am so sorry you had to watch that. I know for me, watching them hurt you was ever so much worse than being hurt myself."_

She felt her eyes begin to fill, and quickly wiped her hand across her cheek. _"Sorry, I don't want to start crying again. It was awful for us both, but we both survived it. But, um, can we talk about something else so I don't start weeping again?"_

"_Of course_," his voice chuckled in her head. _"I'm the one with the emotional range of a teaspoon, remember?"_

She mocked insult and playfully tugged at his hand softly smack his thigh.

_"Right, I think my prior assessment of your emotional range may have been slightly low."_

_"Yeah – one of these days I am bound to qualify for a tablespoon or something."_

_"One of these days,"_ she smirked. _"I'll let you know when you get there,"_ she teased.

"_You do that_," he laughed.

She smiled, paused for a moment, and then said, _"It's strange, you know. I feel this need to catch you up on things, but you've been here all along and know it all already. So now it's strange. It's like I don't know what to say to you."_

_"I know. I'm the same sort of. It's not like I can tell you what I've been up to or tell you a funny story I overheard. It feels both perfect and awkward at the same time."_

She grinned. _"Yes. It does. But, you have been up to things really. Your mind has to have been whirling all this time. It was always a challenge for you to hold your tongue in school, I would think that the cheeky commentary running in your head for months has been quite interesting."_

_"Yes, but you already know what happened."_

_"True. But I don't know what you think about what happened."_

_"Hmm."_

_"Ok. I'll start with a question then. When I leave you with Harry, does he talk with you?"_

_"He does now. Didn't used to – but one time Alice came in and caught him having parked me at a window looking out while he worked for hours."_

_"He WHAT?"_

_"Yeah, but then Alice told him off and more or less shamed him into being open to the idea that things we don't think are possible shouldn't be written off by someone who has survived the killing curse twice."_

_"I knew I liked her."_

_"Yeah, but she did it without a second thought. Hadn't seen anyone but us and Ginny and maybe McGonagall so much as question him since the war let alone put him in his place with a solid tongue lashing."_

_"Would have liked to see that."_

_"It was brilliant. But it wouldn't have happened if you were here."_

_"No, I suppose not. But, did he change then?"_

_"Yeah. He did. He was as emotional as I've ever seen him. Apologized. Said if I was there he was sorry. And if I wasn't there how he was still sorry and would be a better friend to you. Of course_," Ron sniggered, "_then he said he really did have work he had to do and moved me so I could watch, but then he didn't notice I had a waterfall of blood coming out of my nose. When he finally saw it he grabbed a tissue out of instinct and realized at the last second you'd said to not do that in case it smothered me. I thought he was going to piss himself trying to get Alice and then trying to convince her he had been paying attention."_

_"Oh! Then that's what I walked in on when Neville was here."_

"_Yeah_," Ron laughed. _"It was hilarious."_

_"See...I don't know everything that's happened."_

_"No, guess not." _

_"Is it hard to read?"_

_"Yeah. It is – but it's still worth trying. I can't move my eyes with the page, so parts feel blurry. Then I feel some eye strain and can't make myself blink more, so that's hard. But, when you figured that out and had me taking breaks that helped a lot."_

_"Good."_

_"Hermione?"_

_"What is it?"_

_"I'm sorry you had to go to your home and your dad's pub alone. I wish I could have been there – or that Harry could have gone with you."_

_"Oh, yeah,"_ she sighed wistfully. _"Well, I didn't really have a choice, did I? I couldn't have left you alone."_

_"Well, maybe Nev can be helpful. I don't think he'd try to snuff me. I just don't want to see you trying to carry all of the burdens."_

_"Well, I don't have to now, do I?"_

_"Well, seems to me you're still carrying them, but at least we can talk about them together now."_

_"Nah, we'll figure this out quickly. We'll get you back. I just know it."_

Now it was his turn to sigh. _"Promise me you won't get too discouraged if it takes a long time?"_

_"Which part do you think will take a while – the convincing other people part, or the undoing the curse part?"_

"_Both,"_ he admitted plainly.

_"Really? You don't think Harry will believe me?"_

_"Well, I think he'll want to believe you. But, unless he were to become a legillimens - which let's face it – you learned faster than anyone in history."_

_"I was highly motivated,"_ she protested.

"_And I'm glad you were. But even if Harry were as motivated, it would take him a while. I mean – he was pretty motivated to learn occulemency but never mastered that."_

_"Fair. Though, I think there was a part of him that didn't want to sever that connection as long as it helped us a little."_

_"Fair."_

_"But there have to be ways to prove it. Tell him something from you that I have no reason to know."_

_"Yeah,"_ Ron said with a tone of reluctance. _"I don't know what would be good for that. But, we'll keep working on it."_

_"But once we convince Harry don't you think it will be easy? Everyone listens to him anyway. Your family is bound to come around quickly."_

_"They're going to feel horrible. I mean happy and thrilled, but then quickly followed by guilty and horrible. I don't want to hurt them."_

_"You're not hurting them, Ron,"_ she scolded. _"They've made a mistake. A huge one. And now you are going to allow them to set it right."_

_"Yeah – but they will feel awful. It will be like Percy right after the war just radiating guilt everywhere. I don't want to put them through that."_

_"Ron,"_ she said her tone firmer now. _"They are going to feel awful because they made a mistake – not because of something you've done to them. You own no guilt in this. Not one speck, do you hear me?"_

_"Come on, Hermione, I can't get scolded already. I've only been talking for a few minutes now_," he teased, but she wasn't amused.

_"Look. I get it. You forgive them fully. And despite the fact I shouldn't begrudge them, it's harder for me to look past it – but I will eventually because it's important to you. But I will not allow you to feel bad about it. Telling them will be like ripping off a plaster – we just need to pick a time to do it and do it quickly to get the pain out of the way. Then all of us can start to heal."_

_"Ok. Ok, I didn't mean to upset you. I know it's not only me they abandoned. I have seen how much you have suffered having to face this without your parents or your magical family there to support you. Healing that will take a while, but I know it will happen. But maybe let's get closer to solving the curse first. Otherwise we'll have to waste all kinds of time convincing them I'm here and then you translating things instead of getting me back to being normal again."_

_"That's true,"_ Hermione laughed. _"I can't really see me sitting here with your mum 24 hours a day asking you if you're hungry every 20 minutes."_

_"Exactly."_

_"So – I know you said you didn't want to talk about it yet, but it is the elephant in the room. Seems like the faster we get to it, the faster this is all behind us."_

_"Yeah, ok. But, we're bound to get interrupted soon. I can hear Alice getting the nutritional potions ready."_

_"How can you hear that?"_

_"Dunno. I've just noticed that my senses pick things up better now – smell, hearing, all of it."_

_"Touch?"_ she said seductively as she let her fingers trail lightly against his thigh.

_"Oh yeah,"_ he said – even the voice in his head sounding huskier.

She leaned forward and said, _"I've never tried a kiss with my eyes open. Not quite sure how that works, honestly." _ She tried to maintain eye contact as she brought her lips to his, kissing him slowly and sensually. Inevitably her eyes closed, but she could still hear him sighing in her head.

_"God I've missed you,"_ he said as she pulled away, slowly opening her eyes to see his again.

_"Me too. And look, apparently you don't have to maintain eye contact."_

_"Not if you maintain contact other ways,"_ he smirked. She just smiled. _"Come here. I want to kiss you again, but you're going to have to do it for me."_

_"That's a chore I'm happy to help with," _she said as she closed her eyes to kiss him again.

Just as her lips hit his, Alice knocked on the door to announce her entrance, "Time for some food, Mr. Weasley."

At the intrusion, Hermione jumped unexpectedly and knocked his wand out of his hand as she scrambled up to her feet. She was holding both wands and looking flushed when Alice caught her eye.

"Everything ok, Hermione?"

"What? Oh, uh - yeah, I'm brilliant, thanks. So, potions, huh?"

Alice shot her a look that clearly said she wasn't buying Hermione's act at all.

_"Can you still hear me?"_ Hermione thought in her head. But there was no reply.

"Hermione, is there anything you want or need to let me in on?"

"No , no. No – but - uh – actually – yes. Yes there is. I had a thought, actually," Hermione said, quickly recovering from stammering to her usual collected, authoritative manner. "It's about the tubing for Ron's potions. I've just – well, _sensed,_ I suppose, that the tube causes more pain and irritation going in and out than we might think. I –uh- I _understand_ when Harry was here one time you were able to use a numbing spray that helped with pain and lubricated his sinuses and such to make it go in and out smoother and without pain. Can we add that into our regular routine?"

Alice stared at her for a moment, only blinking.

"You _sensed_ all that, did you?" Alice said, more as a statement than a question. "You can _sense _the administration and successful intervention of nasal analgesics and lubricants while you are not on the premises at all?"

"Well, uh, not exactly. But Harry said the spray worked well, and I do have a _strong sense_ that we should add something to make it easier and less painful." She sighed in frustrated resignation and then added, "Can you just try it, Alice? Please?"

"Of course we can, Hermione. I just hope at some point you'll fill me in on things and stop pretending I am some oblivious soul who just waltzed in off the street."

Hermione smiled at her and gave the stern woman a hug. "Thank you, Alice. And I promise I don't think you're oblivious at all. And hopefully at some point soon I'll be able to show that to you."

"Well. Alright then. Ok, Mr. Weasley, first things first. Let's administer the numbing spray, eh?"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

Ron's eyes were closed as he lay in bed, spooned up behind Hermione. He could feel her sleeping deeply in his arms. He'd agreed they should head to bed after such an emotional and draining day, but the honest truth was he could see how much she needed it. He, on the other hand, was wide awake with both the excitement of such a huge breakthrough as well as the mental whirlwind of facing a near-impossible problem to solve.

Between Alice's interruptions and a surprise visit from Neville bringing dinner, they hadn't had much time to "talk" the rest of the day. But watching her yawn as she turned the sofa back into a bed, he knew she needed real rest. If he was finally able to help her out by ensuring she got enough sleep, then that was what he would do.

He chastised himself slightly. He really should be grateful tonight. He got what he'd been wanting for so long. But now that he'd had a taste of freedom, he couldn't wait to get back to really living again. But he had no idea how they would do that. But then again, he didn't know how he'd get to this point either. He tried to will himself to focus on the feel of Hermione in his arms and the calming rhythm of her slow breaths. He wasn't in this alone. They would figure it out together. And so he clung to that as he slowly drifted to sleep.

The next thing he knew, he could feel Hermione turned in his arms, snuggled up to his chest, slowly kissing his neck as she ran her hands over him tenderly.

"Good morning, Ron," he heard. This was the kind of dream he loved and never wanted to wake up from. "Time to wake up. I'm going to pop into the loo and then I'll be back to get you up too. But I just want to be sure you have time to wake up properly. Just because I am thrilled to hear you again doesn't mean I want to spend the day with the grumpy-from-having-woken-up-too-early Ron." She chuckled, and kissed him again before hopping out of bed.

He heard her pick up her bag and cross over to the bathroom.

_Yesterday was real_, he thought. _I didn't dream that up. She knows I'm here. We talked and now we just have to figure out how to reverse the curse_.

He let his mind wander back to the previous day's conversation and smiled as he thought of how much she had wanted his comfort. It was amazing to him how she could be so brilliant and so strong and yet turn to him for anything. But he'd take it.

Before too long she had come out of the bathroom and come around the side of the bed to get him up. He felt her lips on his again and let himself sink into the amazing sensation before all too soon she pulled back and gently opened his eyes.

"Good morning," she said, beaming at him with a hint of mischief in her eyes. "Can't tell you how thrilled I am to know you can hear and feel everything. Let's get you up and going and we can talk so more, alright?"

_You bloody well know that's more than alright_, _Hermione._

"Once we're better at the legillemency stuff maybe I can figure out how to start talking to you before I have to pry your eyes open. But one day's practice does not an expert make," she said as she sat Ron up. And in a well-practiced routine she soon had him up and was finishing washing his face when Alice came in.

"Good morning, you two," Alice said with a smile as she came in. "How did you sleep last night?"

"Really well, thanks," said Hermione. "Best in a long time, honestly."

"You seem quite happy today, Hermione," Alice said, her eyebrow slightly arched in a knowing way, but her tone revealing nothing.

"I am, Alice. I am. And I have a feeling he is too. Let's get him up and going, shall we?"

"Ok. Will you lay out the tubing while I get him ready?"

Hermione nodded and smiled, and the two witches worked as a well-oiled machine with Hermione turning politely away as Alice catheterized him. Before long Alice had his nutritional potions started while Hermione transfigured the bed and other furniture back into what Ron had come to think of as their living room. He saw her pause looking at the sofa, and she pondered something, finally turning back to Ron.

"I'm going to try something different today, but it's easily changed if you don't like it." With that she transfigured the chair into something that looked like a simply wider chair that wouldn't be nearly long enough for him to lay on.

"I haven't seen these in the magical world, now that I think about it. Dad used to have one and he loved it, but Mum said it was too tacky and made him get rid of it. It's called a recliner, and usually it's for one person, but I made this one big enough for both of us. Let's try it, and if you hate it I can change it."

With that she levitated him into the leather recliner, tilted him back, propped his head with pillows and charms, and soon Ron had yet another reason to love his witch.

"Hope it's ok," she was saying. "Let's get set up, and we'll try to chat."

_This is not ok, Hermione. Forget the joke shop. As soon as I am better we are going to start selling these and make a billion galleons!_

She was busying herself with notes and wands and pillows and some tea as she fussed around trying to get everything exactly where she wanted it.

_Come on, Hermione. You're not picking where to plant roots or anything, I want to talk with you already!_

"Ok, I think we're set," she said, taking a few deep cleansing breaths. "Ready?" she asked looking in his eyes.

_More than._

"Ok, one, two, three, legillimens!"

Once again he felt the sensation of tickling in his mind as it felt like a woosh of air somehow came in, but he couldn't hear her yet. But, remembering the prior day, he focused on calling for her and trying to help her find his thoughts.

_"Hermione? I'm over here, love. Keep following the sound of my pretend voice. You're doing such an amazing job at this, Hermione, I know you'll find me in just a minute."_

Then he heard her, _"Ron?"_

_"Yes, yes, over here! You've almost got it, call out again. I'm right here."_

_"Ron?" _

_"Good morning, so nice of you to drop by,"_ he teased, earning him a playful smack on his thigh as she smiled at him with sparkling eyes.

_"Oh Ron, it is so wonderful to hear your voice! I was almost worried I had dreamt it all up." _

_"I know. I felt the same." _

_"How are you this morning? Anything hurting? Do you need anything?"_

_"No, no. I'm fine. But, thanks. I noticed you didn't eat anything yet." _

_"Well, I guess you are really your old self in there, huh?"_

_"Yup. Of course, I'm not quite ready to send you away to eat quite yet. But promise me you'll eat something in a bit?"_

_"I promise. Maybe when the physiotherapist comes in I'll pop up to the café and grab some oatmeal or something."_

_"Good. That's a deal." _

_"So, now what? I mean I want to just hang out in your head all day talking, but we should probably get to work figuring out how to get you out."_

_"Apparently you really are your old self too, huh_?" he teased.

_"Good thing neither of us changed too much in all of this, right?"_

_"Right. And the sooner we can get past this, the sooner we get to get on with our real lives."_

She was quiet a moment, and he could see her face was suddenly sad, the spark gone.

_"You ok?"_

_"Yeah, of course."_

_"Liar. My face may be frozen, but I can read yours plain as day, you know. "_

_"Hmm. Seems an unfair advantage."_

_"Right. Well, maybe just a trade-off for – well – paralysis an all that."_

_"Right_," she said guiltily. "_Sorry."_

_"No, no worries. If we can't joke about it we'll never make it. But you are trying to distract me from the original problem. What's wrong?"_

She sighed, and he could feel her wanting to look away but too scared to break eye contact and lose their connection. She was fidgeting slightly with the hem of his short sleeve.

_"You can tell me, Hermione. If it's easier, try closing your eyes, just keep focusing on me and feel our connection ok. If we lose it, we'll try again. But I want to know what's clearly upsetting you." _

She sighed, gave him a weary smile and a slight nod and then slowly closed her eyes.

_"Can you still hear me?_" her voice asked.

_"Absolutely."_

_"Good_," she sighed, relieved.

_"So what is it? What's upsetting you?"_

She gave a sarcastic laugh and he saw her shake her head unconsciously.

_"Ok, fair enough, let me ask that another way. What of this utterly absurd situation has you more upset today than normal?"_

She sighed again and said in a small voice, "_it's just you said something about us getting out of here and getting on with our real lives. And sometimes I just don't feel like we'll ever get there, you know? We spent all of our school years trying to keep Harry alive and kill the darkest wizard of all time. Then we had to try and get my parents back which was an utter failure in the most spectacular fashion. We still haven't done that and don't know if it's even possible, but now we're here stuck in this room. And in many ways it feels like a slightly nicer version of the ruddy tent. Assuming we figure out yet another impossible task and get your paralysis reversed, you'll still have a long way to go to gain all your strength back. I don't know if you'll ever be your strong self again. And then what? We still have to go find my parents. And there are still psychotic dark wizards after us. It's not like we get to just be a normal couple and go out to dinner or something." _

_"Whoa, whoa. I think you are spinning a bit. Let's take one thing at a time, shall we?" _

She nodded, and he could see a tear roll down her one cheek.

His tone softened, and he said, "_If I could, I would kiss that tear away. Can you lean in so I can do that?"_

She nodded, wiped the tear with her hand, but leaned in, letting her cheek lean softly against his lips for a moment. Then she clasped her non-wand hand in his and wiped the cheek again, kissed his fingers and placed them back in her lap.

_"Better?"_ he asked softly.

_"Yes. Thanks."_

_"Ok. So, I know we will reverse the curse. I just do. And I don't know how long it will take, but I feel so confident about it. And if we can do that, you bloody well know I can do the rehab work to get my strength back. And even if I am stuck in a chair forever, I will still be able to talk, and we will retire as millionaires as I will make a fortune selling these genius muggle chairs to all of the magical world and you can take all the money and use it to free house elves or something."_

She chuckled despite herself.

_"It's going to be ok, Hermione. As long as we're together it will be ok. And as for being a normal couple – well - there I have some bad news for you." _

At this her eyes popped open and stared at him with concern, her brow furrowed.

_"What exactly do you mean by that, Ronald Weasley?"_

He laughed. "_I mean, Hermione Granger, that we have never been a normal couple and never will be. And if you think that after all of this I am going to be ok living back in my parents' house and you in your parents' house and only seeing you to take you out to the Leaky, then you have lost your brilliant mind." _

She softened, smiled, and he could see the spark come back to her eyes.

Seeing that, he continued. "_Paralyzed or not, I am not prepared to spend another night without you in my arms, you barmy witch. So, no, we won't be normal. But we will find a flat somewhere and finally get our unique, non-normal version of happily ever after."_

_"I love you,"_ she sighed.

_"I love you too. Now, kiss me, and let's get to work." _

She laughed, leaned in and kissed him briefly and smiled.

_"Ok. You're right. Thanks for the pep talk. And now we know I don't have to stare at you which will make it much easier to take notes and such."_

He laughed. "_Here I was thinking it made it easier to snog."_

She pinched her lips together tightly in an embarrassed smile. Well, the blush creeping across her face said that too.

He laughed again, and then she put what he thought of as her "Prefect Face" on and got down to work.

_"OK. So, to get to our happily ever after, what do we have to tackle first?" _

She picked up a quill and looked expectantly at him.

_"Well, he sighed, I guess step one – no – scratch that. You already solved step one. Figuring out I was stuck in here, figuring out we could talk with legillemency and then of course learning legillimency – those were steps, dunno – one through three? We're on at least step four by now. And I know how much you love crossing things out on a list, so put those on there and then cross 'em off."_

She laughed, slightly embarrassed, and then acquiesced. "_You're right,"_ she said_. "I really do." _

So, in her neat script she wrote on the parchment.

1) Confirm Ron is alive and well yet trapped in his body

2) Figure out a way to communicate

3) Learn legillemency and occulmemcy

4)

She wrote the number 4 and then looked up at him. _"Any idea of what comes next?"_

_"Well, I guess there are a couple of approaches. Crabbe said he developed the curse during the war, so I presume there wouldn't be anything written about its prior use to research." _

_"But we could try to find the resources he pulled on and see if we could create it ourselves."_

_"Possibly. But then we would still have to figure out the precise counter curse." _

_"That could take years. You said he said there was a counter but erased the memory. You can't recall any of it?"_

_"No, trust me. I've spent days and days trying to focus on it, but it's gone." _

She sighed, pursing her lips_. _Then she wrote next to the 4 on the parchment. "3) Determine precise curse used and either discover or create counter curse.' Then below that she drew two lines and continued to write "If discover, research possible ways to restore memories using the research from the obliviation studies done to help Mum and Dad" and then "if create, determine what resources he would have had at his disposal to come up with initial curse."

_"Alright?" _She asked_._

_"Um, yeah, but I think you're missing one." _

_"What?"_

_"Well, we could also work with Harry to have the aurors capture him and actually get him to tell us how to undo the curse."_

_"Wow. I hadn't even thought of that."_

_"But that would take telling Harry and convincing Harry that I'm here."_

_"Right," _she said softly_._

He let the silence hang between them for a while as they both thought.

_"You know," _he finally said._ "I think we do need to tell Harry at some point so he can have them search for Crabbe anyway. Even if we don't count on him to get the counter curse. It's not safe for you or Harry while that lunatic is still out there."_

She sighed in sadness and resignation. "_You're right. But it is easier not to think about it." _

_"Since when does Hermione Granger take the easy route?"_

_"Since now, I suppose. But you're still right. So, do we work on convincing Harry then? He's going to listen, but I don't know that he will really believe me." _

_"I know. I've been trying to think of something that could prove it to him, but..."_

_"Do I really know everything between you two? Surely there is something."_

_"Well, I mean yeah – we lived together for all these years, but don't you think he would think I could have told you some of it? I mean, you don't want to hear about Neville's first wet dream or anything do you?"_

_"Decidedly not, thank you very much. That comment alone is more than I wanted to think about."_

He laughed. "_Sorry._"

_"No you're not_," she countered. "_You have always loved making me blush."_

_"OK – yeah. I have. But I prefer it when you are blushing thinking of me and not Nev."_

Now it was her turn to laugh. "_OK – so no boy's dormitory confessionals then. What else? Surely you two had a conversation about us or about Ginny I don't know about it." _

_"Yeah – but nothing that he could be sure you don't know about except..."_ he let his voice trail off knowing the one conversation that he still didn't want to tell her about.

_"Except what?"_ She prodded.

He sighed, not knowing what to say.

_"Oh,"_ she said in sudden understanding. "_The locket. It's the locket, isn't it?"_

_"Yeah,"_ he confirmed.

_"You still don't want to tell me, do you?" _She said in a tone that betrayed her hurt.

_"No, no – it's not that, not really," _he said quickly._ "I want you to know. You should know. But, well, I don't want to tell you like this. I don't want to just show you the memory or tell you about it when I'm paralyzed by his goons. Seems, I dunno, seems like he still has a grip on me somehow. And, I want to be, fuck, I don't know. I guess I was so not in control of myself with that damn locket that I just really want to be in control of myself when I tell you about it."_ Then he paused before adding, "_Which I will_," he said with emphasis. "_But not now. Not like this. Is that mad?"_

She was quiet for a moment and then finally said_, "No. Not mad. I guess I can't totally understand without knowing what exactly we're talking about. But, I do appreciate that sentiment of wanting to be in control for that conversation. So, what else then? Where does that leave us?"_

_"Not sure. Let's use that as a plan of last resort, ok? It's there as a possibility, but only if we have to." _

_"OK. But then what? You're the great chess strategist here. Surely you can think of something."_

_"HERMIONE! THAT'S IT! YOU'RE BRILLIANT!"_

_"Uh, ok. Apparently so brilliant I don't know what I said."_

_"Chess! You can beat his arse at chess!"_

_"But I can't beat anyone at chess."_

_"Exactly!" _

_"Huh?" _And then, in sudden realization she added_, "OH! You beat him at chess!"_

_"Exactly. I'll kick his arse at chess, which I will enjoy on several levels, and then he'll believe you. Then he can help us not only get Crabbe caught, but also an extra brain to think of a way out of all of this."_ He paused. "_And then, well, then you also won't be so alone",_ he added tenderly.

_"But I'm not alone anymore. Wasn't ever, really." _

_"Yeah, but still, you're alone as my go-between I guess. Alone in knowing I'm here. Though, honestly, I'm thinking Alice suspects it too." _

_"Yeah, I noticed that. But suspecting and believing are a long way apart from each other."_

_"Hmm. I suppose so." _

_"OK. Chess with Harry then?" _

_"It'll be brilliant,"_ he said, unable to hide the grin in his tone.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

While Hermione had tried to get Harry to come the following day, he'd replied that he wouldn't be able to come until Saturday as he had to work 12 hour shifts Thursday and Friday. He'd sent an owl saying that if it was urgent he would switch shifts, but otherwise to count on seeing him late Saturday morning.

On Saturday Hermione awoke early but tried to remain still to let Ron sleep a little longer. But after she could wait no more she decided to try using her new skill to see if he was up as well. She quietly cast "legillimens" and in something of a whispering mental voice asked, _"Ron, are you awake?"_

_"Yup,"_ a sleepy voice replied. "_I was wondering how long you were going to lay there pretending to sleep. I knew if I was awake thinking about everything then you had to be awake._"

_"Do you want to get up yet?"_

_"I'll leave that decision up to you. Makes no difference to me."_

She sighed and rolled so she could face him and snuggle into his chest. _"I don't know why I'm nervous about this."_

_"Don't worry, Hermione. I've never lost at Harry to chess. No reason to believe that will change today."_

_"No, not that,"_ she said. _"I'm sure you'll whip him in no time. I'm just nervous about, well, I don't know. Maybe it's not nerves as much as I'm just anxious. It's just been us for so long, it feels weird to bring in the rest of the world again."_

_"Well, I'd hardly call Harry 'the rest of the world.' But, I do know what you mean I suppose. It will be quite different. But we have to go through this part to get to the end we want, right?"_

_"Yes – I guess you're right. Just anxious I guess." _

_"Nothing to do now but wait for him. He said late morning, right? So, we've still got a few hours to kill before then." _

_"Should I read aloud? Maybe more Sherlock Holmes?"_

Ron laughed. "_That's one possibility. But, maybe you should make sure I am especially clean for our visit. I think my hair could stand to be washed, don't you?"_

Hermione had laughed, burrowing deeper into his chest with a blush.

_"Hmm. You think we should shower, huh?"_ she finally said.

_"Oh yeah. We come out looking good. It burns off built up – uh – tension. We have a wonderful time AND we don't sit around all anxious for a few hours with nothing we can do about it. Seems purely logical to me."_

_"Ahh. Well, who am I to go against such a sound argument of logic? Let me get up and get things organized. And then we'll get to showering." _

Blushing she gave him a chaste peck on the cheek and slipped out of the warm bed. She used the loo, started the shower up, and then went to fetch Ron. Before long she had the two of them naked and in the shower, the hot steam swirling between them.

Casting legillimens, she swam through the now familiar static until she could find the voice she sought.

_"Ron?"_

_"Right here,"_ said Ron, his internal voice husky.

_"Hi,"_ she said, feeling herself blushing even in the hot shower.

_"Are you suddenly shy?"_ he laughed.

_"I don't know. Last time we did this I wasn't totally sure you could see or hear me. Maybe that allowed for some boost of confidence or something." _

_"Well how about you start by getting the washing out of the way."_

She laughed, but did just that, lathering them both up in soap. She washed him, and then went to wash herself, ending with rinsing the shampoo out of her hair. She had her eyes closed, rinsing the shampoo from her curls.

With her eyes still closed, she heard him groan. "_You are so fucking beautiful, Hermione."_

She chuckled and blushed, and finished rinsing the last of the suds.

_"Come here," _he said huskily. "_How about you sit on my lap."_

She smiled and did as he'd asked. _"I've missed this. You leading. I never thought that I would think that way. But I do."_

_"There's a lot I've missed about this_," he said.

She leaned in and kissed him gently, urged on by the groan she heard from him in her head. They enjoyed themselves for some time, lost in the steam. While it was significantly better being able to hear him, there were still limitations based on his paralysis. But, she brought him to release this time, beaming at the moans of pleasure and satisfaction she heard from him. She found her own release as well, and soon they were both sated and much more relaxed than they had been when they'd woken up.

She was still sitting on his lap, both of them naked in the shower, her panting and regaining her breath and staring into his eyes. His breath was the same as always – the same rhythm sustained by renewed charms keeping him alive. But, his eyes were dark, and a flush was across his cheeks, and Hermione could practically see the love and joy in his eyes.

_"Better?"_ his voice in her head asked in a tone that sounded to her like a mix of teasing confidence and hidden excitement for the day ahead.

_"Much,"_ she smiled back at him. _"Come on, let's get dressed and ready. I suddenly feel an overwhelming desire to kick Harry's arse at chess."_

_"That's my girl,"_ he laughed. "_Chess and cursing. Whatever will people think?"_

She laughed again, kissed him again and then slowly got up to get dressed, standing up before walking across the bathroom to fetch the beaded bag.

_"Merlin, that's a fine arse,"_ his voice said in her head, it sounding more distant.

"What?" she laughed aloud, suddenly instinctively placing her hands over her bare behind.

_"Ahh – uh. Legillemency is a tricky thing, huh? See, that was supposed to be a thought for myself. Guess I'm not used to you reading my mind aside from what I intend to say to you_."

_"And my arse is really what you think about?"_ she laughed teasingly.

_"Oh yeah,"_ he said. "_Since fourth year at least."_

She shook her head, in a mix of embarrassment and happiness while she slipped on clean knickers and a bra.

_"You look pretty fine in that, too_," he laughed.

_"Well, I'm not complaining about you being over there all gorgeous and naked either, but if we keep getting distracted, we'll be naked when Harry gets here. Then I'd have a hell of a lot explaining to do about molesting you in the shower and I'd never get to beat him in chess." _

_"Hermione, you can molest me in the shower anytime you want. Sod Potter. He's been getting in the way for years."_

She laughed out loud, practically seeing the laughter in his eyes too. _"Uh huh. Maybe I'll try to get his help first anyway."_

A couple hours later they were both dressed, breakfast and potions behind them, physiotherapy done and the room transformed into their sitting room. They had been practicing holding the legillimens connection while not looking at each other or touching. They had gotten to the point where they only had to hold each other's gazes to initiate the connection, but then could look elsewhere. As for touching, they were getting better at this, but hadn't perfected it yet. They found that after a particularly intimate moment like they had in the shower, they could maintain the connection for a while after that without touching. But, when Hermione was puttering around the room doing chores and messing with the furniture, they weren't able to do it. Hermione thought it was all about focus – that when they were intensely focused on each other they could hold it. But, when distracted or pulled in other directions it would fade.

They'd talked about how to explain this to Harry, and whether or not to already have a connection before he arrived. But, Ron had argued that they wouldn't know exactly when he would get there, so it really wasn't worth worrying about.

Typical Ron, she thought. Utterly calm. It would be aggravating if she wasn't jealous of his ability to relax in the face of huge challenges.

After the room was all set, Hermione was feeling fidgety, plumping couch cushions and straightening her books on the coffee table, but her leg always touching Ron's. She had him on the couch in a position he said was comfortable. As long as she maintained the physical contact, she could maintain that connection.

_"Hermione, stop. You're making me nervous, and that's hard to do!"_

_"What if he doesn't believe me?"_

_"Us. Believe us. You aren't alone anymore. And he will. Come here. Lean up against me, and put my arm around you, ok?"_

_"Ok,"_ she said in a resigned tone.

She settled against him, placing her ear against his chest and heard his breath and solid heartbeat. She closed her eyes and listened to the calming rhythm.

And then she heard his quiet voice say, "_It's going to be ok. I'm here and you're here, and we are both safe and alive. Even if Harry doesn't believe us, which I really don't think will happen – but even if he doesn't, we are no worse off than we were this morning; And we are so much better than we were only a few days ago. It's going to be ok, Hermione. I promise."_

She said nothing, letting his voice fill her mind, and his solid heart beat steady her nerves. Finally, she simply nodded against his chest and sat there quietly in his arms as they waited for Harry to arrive.

She'd lost track of time and felt almost hypnotized by the solid feel of his arms and reliable rhythm of his heart and breath. She was so lost in it that she actually jumped in fright when Harry knocked on the door as he entered.

"Hi, Hermione. Sorry I'm late," Harry said as he walked through the door to the hospital room carrying several bags and packages.

"Harry!" she said, surprised at the jolting interruption.

"Hey, you ok? You look pale today. Or upset or something."

"Yeah, oh – yes – I think I had dozed off on the couch and your knock just startled me." She said. Then in her head she added, _"Ron? Ron can you still hear me?"_ The silence made her realize that the jump up off the couch made her lose the connection she'd had, and she cursed her luck and steeled herself to explain this on her own.

"Oh, sorry – I didn't mean to wake you."

"No, no. It's nothing. I'd much rather see you."

"I brought some Chinese food. I figured the house elves here at St. Mungo's probably weren't making much of that."

"You're right there," she laughed.

"I like the room this way. It feels so much more normal set up like this."

"I know. I wish I'd thought of this so much sooner, but I think it's better for both of us." With that she turned to Ron, her back to Harry and caught his eyes. She mouthed _"sorry"_ to him before turning around again.

"Uh, hi, Ron," Harry said awkwardly as he took a seat on the arm chair near the couch.

Hermione started laying out the Chinese food on the coffee table. "How's Ginny?" she asked.

"Good," he said with a smile. "All that time away at the training camp has been paying off. She's been invited to try out for the Hollyhead Harpies," he grinned. "She was shocked, but I certainly wasn't. She's amazing."

"Ron, isn't that wonderful?" Hermione grinned. "I mean, I know it's not the Cannons, but maybe you could find it in your heart to cheer for her anyway."

Hermione looked back at Harry and caught a funny look on his face. "Are you ok?" she asked him.

"Oh, yeah. I just feel weird about sneaking behind her back to come here. I haven't had to straight up lie to her yet, but it feels like I have by just not saying anything. But what could I do? I can't not come, and I can't hurt her by telling her I'm coming."

Hermione took a deep breath and looked at Ron. She was sitting next to him on the couch and reached for his hand as she gazed in his eyes. Despite not having their connection she nodded at him and turned back to Harry.

"So, we have some news to share," she said, blatantly ignoring Harry's obvious discomfort with her use of the term 'we.' "I know you are going to have a hard time hearing - this let alone believing this- but I need you to promise me to keep an open mind for the next hour or so. Can you promise me at least that?"

Harry sighed, took his glasses off to rub his eyes before putting them back on and then rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Yes. I can do that. What's going on?"

"Well, I know you know I have always said I believed Ron was alive and well inside his body. And, I did. But, I have to confess that I was going on instinct and faith instead of knowledge. But, some things have changed recently and now I can say that I know without a doubt that Ron is in there. He's ok. He's not in pain, but he can hear and see everything. All of his senses work, but he's paralyzed. The muggles call it 'locked-in-syndrome,' from a stroke in the brain stem. But, his symptoms are slightly different in that he can't move his eyes. I have since discovered that it was a curse that paralyzed him in this way."

She paused to lift her eyes up from staring at her hand entwined with Ron's to look up at Harry. She knew he was trying hard to maintain a blank look on his face, but she'd always been able to read his eyes.

"I know you don't believe me yet," she said as he started to interrupt her.

"I didn't say anything, Hermione," he said in a flat tone. "You asked me to have an open mind, and I'm doing just that."

"Harry," she smiled warmly. "This is me. I know you don't believe me yet, and that's ok. Just keep listening, alright? I promise I haven't gone mad. And I can prove it in a bit, just let me keep explaining, ok?"

He nodded, so she went on.

"I, well, I'll spare you the graphic details, but let's say that a few weeks ago I discovered that there was one part of his eyes that still reacted to the outside world."

Harry wrinkled his forehead in confusion as she blushed.

"Lust," she said in an embarrassed tone. "You know, how eyes darken with desire. I'm sure you know the look in Gin's eyes."

"Um, yeah, but not just sitting around a hospital room."

"Well, um, we weren't just sitting around a room. I- ugh, this is so embarrassing, but – ok – I decided to shower with him and so we were both naked at the time, and – well - I thought I would try..."

"OK – enough," Harry protested putting up his hand and closing his eyes. "You're right. I don't want to know. But, yeah, so his pupils dilated. But that could have been simply from touch while you were washing him or something, right?"

"Right," she agreed. "It didn't prove my theory yet, but I was really encouraged and kept trying to figure things out. That's when I started transfiguring the bed so we could at least sleep in the same bed together."

"Oh, yeah – when you started looking better a few weeks back," Harry said clearly now grasping the timeline.

"Right. And, when you let me run errands, I started doing the research we talked about. I also got books to read to him and things like that. But, my real breakthrough didn't come until that day I visited the pub my dad used to take me to. The details aren't important but when I left there I knew the answer was simple and had been there all along."

"And what would that be?" Harry asked, clearly trying to sound open minded.

"Legillimency."

The idea clearly caught him by surprise, and she watched him process the idea. He was clearly struggling to balance his excitement and skepticism and said, "Wow. Brilliantly obvious, I suppose. I wonder why the healers hadn't done it."

"I had the same question. But, it's also possible they did it too early when he still was truly unconscious."

"Ok, but how do we find an experienced legillimens? It's a difficult skill, and not many people know it. The only ones I knew died in the war."

"Well, I thought I'd learn it."

"That could take years, Hermione."

"Well, it could, I suppose. But it didn't. I've already done it. I've talked to him, Harry. He's right here, just trapped in his body."

Harry sat there, stunned, his mouth slightly agape. The rest of the world would see a composed face, but Hermione knew him well enough to see the emotional wrestling match on his face. He still wasn't 100% sure she wasn't mad, and yet she could see that familiar look of utter guilt cross his eyes.

"Don't you start on me, Harry James Potter," she said sternly.

"What?" he said, utterly confused.

"I saw your eyes just there. You _will not_ feel guilty about this. This is not your fault. You did not leave me to descend to madness, and you did not abandon your best friend. You are here with both of us right now, but we both need your help."

"I didn't – I mean – I just... Blimey, Hermione. It's a lot to take in."

"Let me prove it to you. I know this all sounds mad, and I didn't believe it myself for quite a while. Let me prove to you he is still there. I can serve as a translator of sorts. And then once you know it without a doubt, then you can help us. He knows who attacked us and cursed him, and he knows there is a counter curse, though what exactly that is still remains a mystery. But for today, can you indulge me enough to let me prove it to you?"

"Well, um, of course Hermione, but how will you do that? I can't think of anything he and I know that we kept from you." He thought for a second and then answered himself. "Except the locket. He never told you, did he?"

"No, he didn't," she admitted softly. "And he still hasn't." Harry's eyebrows shot up revealing his thought of how convenient that was. But she persisted. "We talked about it, as I said the same thing. But he said he would tell me, but didn't want to do it this way. He said he let that locket control part of him, and he only wanted to tell me about it when he was back in full control of himself – mind and body. And, while I don't know what the memory is, I understand the sentiment of his argument."

Harry nodded in slight acquiescence. "Ok. Not the locket. So, then how?"

"Chess," she said simply. "I want to play you in chess."

"But you hate chess. You always lose."

"Exactly," she said beaming. "But before we start I will cast the _legillimens_ spell and will only play as Ron instructs me. And when we quickly crush you, then I hope you will believe me – believe us," she finished as she squeezed Ron's hand.

His eyes snapped up to hers, but he said nothing. He sat back in his chair, clearly thinking through everything she had just said. She didn't push him. The two of them had always been comfortable in silence together. She quietly ate some of the food Harry had brought and looked back at Ron, touching his face and smiling hopefully.

After a few minutes, Harry said, "Hermione, I have asked you to do much more dangerous and much more daft things than play me in chess. Of course I'll play you in chess, Hermione. And I hope for the first time you will beat me, but I won't go easy at all."

"I would hope not. I need you to believe this. And you and I both know the only way for that to happen is for you to see it yourself. And, since I don't have time for you to learn legillimency on top of your auror work, I think this is the fastest way to get there."

"It is. And you know I wasn't thinking I wouldn't play, right? It's just a lot to process."

"I know," she said. "I've had weeks to adapt, and it's still a lot to process. Even Ron struggles with some of it, and he's known all along."

"OK then, do you have a chess set?"

"Yes. I got one from the recreation room on the ward. It's not as nice as Ron's set or the ones at school. But it's still a proper wizard's chess set."

"Alright, I'll set up the board," he said.

Soon the pieces were all in their proper places, and Hermione nodded.

"Alright then." She turned to Ron, and grinned. "Here we go, ready? One, two, three, _legillimens_!" She held his gaze, searching through the whirring noise for his call.

_"Where are you?"_ she called in her head. Then finally she caught the familiar sound of his voice calling her name and zeroed all of her energy in on the place where their minds could share the space.

_"You were brilliant just then, you know,"_ he said.

_"Thanks. Went better than I had hoped. But now you're up."_

_"Oh, this is the fun part. I love wholloping him in chess, and it's been too long since I had a chance."_

_"Don't get cocky,"_ she said to him in her head. _"I can't afford for you to lose."_

_"I won't,"_ he assured her. "_Well, I won't lose, and I'll try not to be cocky."_

_"Um hmm."_

She held his hand and turned back to Harry.

"OK, we're sharing headspace now, or whatever the proper term is. You know I should probably look that up."

Harry rolled his eyes at her while she heard Ron groan, "_Hermione, not now_," with an eye rolling tone in her head.

"Oh come on, you two are already ganging up on me. Knock it off," she scolded.

Harry laughed at her. "Alright do you want to be black or white?"

_"Black_," Ron insisted. "_He's testing you because he knows I'm always black when we play."_

"Hmm. He says you're testing me," she said to Harry. "He said you jolly well know he's always black."

Harry smiled, turned the board appropriately and made his first move, sliding the white pawn forward on the board. In five short minutes, Hermione had him beat.

"Check mate! Oooh, that's so fun!" she exclaimed. "I've never gotten to say that to you!" She was grinning, looked back at Ron and said, "Do you feel this much of a high every time you beat someone?"

_"Hermione, let's hold on the victory dance, yeah? Harry looks like he's about to pass out or something_." she heard in her head.

She turned back quickly and saw Harry pale and staring at Ron with a gaping mouth.

"Harry, are you ok?" she asked gently.

"All this time," he whispered still staring at Ron. "You've been right here all this time, and I have been such an utter arse! Fuck, Ron, I am so sorry. I'm-"

Hermione interrupted him with a stern "Harry! Stop that! We told you not to feel guilty about this. Please don't start going into that downward spiral of guilt quite yet."

_"Speak for me, ok?"_ Ron asked.

She nodded and said, "Hold on, Harry. Ron wants me to tell you what he's saying."

Harry looked directly at Ron as Hermione spoke what she heard in her head. "He says, '_come on mate, we don't have time for that guilt rubbish yet. Help us get me out of here and then you can brood as much as you want_.' Ron! That's not nice."

Harry had been wiping at his eyes trying not to cry, but at Hermione's chastising of Ron's comments, he began to laugh, unable to control himself. "Merlin, leave it to you two to figure out how to use _legillimency_ to argue with each other."

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "He says it's worse without you to referee."

"Right," Harry laughed as he placed his glasses back on his damp eyes.

"Ok, he wants me to keep talking. He says '_last time it took the deluminator with Hermione's voice to find my way back to you two_.'" Hermione's voice cracked as she looked at him, but kept speaking. "_'This time it's still Hermione's voice, but I need you too. We both do. Oh, and hopefully this time I don't have to pull your frigid arse out of an icy lake.'_ Really, Ron? You're just saying bad words because you want to hear me say them."

But Harry wasn't listening anymore. He had gotten up to crush Ron in a fierce embrace. "God, you're right here! I've missed you so much." Then he leaned back, sniffing as he smiled. Then Harry continued, "I'm so sorry I've been so thick headed."

Hermione listened for Ron's reply and then said, "Well, he says '_apparently one of the three of us has to be a fucking idiot on each adventure. Last time it was me. This time it happened to be your turn. Can you imagine what Hermione's turn will look like?_' Nice, Ron. After this is over I'll have you both know I am planning to have an extremely boring, adventure-free life."

Harry laughed, and Hermione could hear Ron laughing in her head.

"Brilliant. This is bloody brilliant," grinned Harry. "So, now what. What's next? How can I help?"


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Ron was elated. They'd been able to convince Harry he was still here, and he'd gotten to thrash his best mate in chess to boot. The three of them had been sitting there for hours reminiscing and laughing, even playing a few more rounds of chess with Hermione serving as his translator to the world. Harry, of course, had threatened to slip back into apologies and guilt multiple times, but he and Hermione managed to keep pulling him back out of the descent. Just as they always had.

It was odd, he thought, how much taking care of Harry together helped he and Hermione feel more normal too.

Hermione turned to him and smiled, internally telling him, _"I know. I thought the same thing."_

_"Damn. Still not used to you hearing what I don't mean to say out loud. Someday this will bite me in the arse, you know." _

_"I know,"_ she said mentally, primly smiling and turning back around.

_"Smart arse."_

She simply wriggled in her seat, making sure he knew exactly where that smart arse was.

"Can I butt in on the clearly silent conversation?" Harry said. "You know, I was always convinced you two could do that in school anyway. Maybe that's how you learned it so fast."

"Maybe," Hermione said with a nod.

_"Or maybe you really are the brightest witch of your age_."

"I'll have you know, Ronald, I can choose not to say things if they make me uncomfortable."

"He's either saying crude things I don't want to know about or he reminded you, correctly, that you really are the smartest witch of your age."

"I give up with you two," she said rolling her eyes as she blushed. "How about we stop this bickering nonsense and start working on actual plan to bring Ron all the way back, hmm?"

_"Can't argue with that_."

"Right, so what do you need me to do?"

"Well, we've hit a wall at the point of the memory," she explained. "Ron can remember everything through when Crabbe said he was going to curse him and then tell him the solution to reverse it and then remove the memory. Then it is choppy and fuzzy for a few moments, and then back in crisp view. So, we either need to invent the exact curse and then invent a reversal, or we need to figure out what Crabbe did and learn the reversal he knows. But other than capturing him and getting it from him now or somehow restoring the memory, we don't know what else to do."

"Well," Harry said, pondering the problem. "Clearly we need to get your memory anyway so we can eventually prosecute Crabbe. He's already on the wanted list, of course, but this will move him up to a much higher priority."

Then he sat there quietly for a moment until he said, "Maybe I'm still missing a few things. Do you mind if I ask some questions? If they're too difficult, then we'll just skip them, ok?"

"Of course," Hermione had said, communicating Ron's thoughts as well.

"So, Hermione, you were being held on the other side of the room, right?"

She nodded. "But I couldn't hear because of the silencing shield he'd put up."

"But could you see? Did you see it? Or did you close your eyes or look away?"

Ron mentally held his breath, having often wondered the same thing but never having asked.

"I watched it," she said meekly with a sad exhale. "The Death Eaters held my head so I couldn't turn away, but I didn't want to anyway. I couldn't take my eyes off him."

_"I'm sorry_," he thought to her. "_I'm so sorry you had to see that_."

"Hermione? Do you think if we took your memory and Ron's memory and merged them together we could maybe read Crabbe's lips at the key moment? I mean, we would know where his is fuzzy from obliviation and go back to yours."

_"HARRY! BLOODY BRILLIANT_!"

"Yes! I think – he says it's bloody brilliant, and I have to agree. That could really work. Are there experts in the auror department on lip reading and such? I wouldn't want to guess wrong and mess it up."

"Yes, I don't know who all does it, just that there are people."

"Oh my God, we could do this fast then. I was thinking months or years, but, Merlin, if we were able to just read his lips, maybe we could do this in a few weeks."

_"Holy shite_."

"Or a few days," corrected Harry.

_"Buggering holy shite." _

"Now, I could be wrong. Don't get too set on it as it might not work as we hope because, well, it's us and nothing ever seems to go as planned, does it?"

"No, no it doesn't," Hermione agreed. "But, how do we combine the memories? I haven't personally worked with pensieves at all. I guess I could get a book on them..."

Ron and Harry laughed at the same time, and then Harry said, "Well, actually I saw Dumbledore combine memories several times, and it seemed really as simple as pouring the different memories and viewpoints into the basin. But, it seemed to be important that they started and ended at the same place in the memory."

They sat there making notes about who Harry needed to talk to, where they could get a pensieve and other logistical details, Hermione leaping at the opportunity to make to-do lists for each of them.

While Harry and Hermione worked, Ron remained mostly quiet, but Hermione could sense his anxiety. She tried to respect his privacy as it was clearly not communicated to her. But finally, Hermione could no longer ignore the thoughts running through Ron's head.

"Harry, I don't think Ron meant to share this with me, but sorry Ron, we need to talk about it anyway. Let's say this works – what do you think would be the least painful way to reveal this to Gin and the rest of the Weasleys. They're going to take it hard. And, well, I know Ron is very concerned about minimizing any difficulty for them. But, you've spent more time with them recently than we have. What do you think?"

_"Thanks_."

"_Of course,"_ she replied in her head as she squeezed his hand.

"Well," Harry said. "They'll be shocked. And, I think each will take it differently. I think Ginny will be shocked and say something she'll later regret, run off to manage her temper, and then come back groveling for forgiveness. But, her temper is fiery and she'll run the gamut of emotions quickly, and I think she'll be alright faster than anyone else."

Hermione nodded, saying "Yeah, Ron says he can see that. Um, among the siblings, I think he's most concerned about George."

"Well, I have no idea what to expect from George."

_"I know if he could bring one of us back it wouldn't be me_," Ron thought sadly.

"Ron! How can you say such a thing?!"

"What'd he say?

"He's mumbling nonsense about how if George had to pick between bringing back Fred or him he'd choose Fred. BUT," she emphasized, "this isn't about picking favorites. This will be positive I think. Maybe he'll wish he could have Fred too, but he won't wish you back into your prison of paralysis."

"She's right, mate. He'll be thrilled to have you back. It may take him longer to process all of the emotions, as he's never been all that great at that anyway."

"You're one to talk," snorted Hermione.

"Lovely, Hermione," he said with the tone of a sibling argument. "Anyway, as I was saying, I think everyone will be thrilled to have you back. But I think each will struggle with their own guilt for having given up on you too soon. But, honestly, we probably should all have to own up to that. We weren't there for you like we needed to be."

_"Tell him we forgive him_, _Hermione._"

_"There is nothing to forgive, Ron. I'm not saying that_."

_"Tell him. He needs to hear it."_

_"No."_

"You two arguing again?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"Yes," Hermione admitted with a guilty tone.

_"TELL HIM!"_

"Ron wants me to tell you we forgive you, Harry. But I keep trying to explain that there is nothing to forgive. But he insists you need to hear it anyway."

Harry looked down at his hands.

_"Can you just say what I say? Please?"_

"Uh – he says he wants me to just say exactly what he's saying. So, here it is. '_Harry, when I left you on the hunt, you forgave me instantly. Instantly! I walked away when you needed me_.' "

"So have I," said Harry, trying and failing to hold in his emotions.

"_No_," Hermione said as she spoke what Ron said in her head. "_'All of the experts told you I was brain dead. You weren't mad at me when I believed you to be dead, why should the reverse not be true? But as soon as I knew you were back, we immediately jumped back into it. This is the same. You thought I was basically dead. But as soon as you knew otherwise, you're now back instantly. And I forgive you. But let's get back to it now, ok? We've got shite to do because I really want to get back on a broom and kick your arse in quidditch.'_" Hermione said each word as he fed it to her in her mind, but she smirked and rolled her eyes at the end, making all of them laugh.

"Ok, ok. Sorry. Yeah – Back in it. As for the family, well, you know your mum. She'll feel guilty and fuss but will be delighted. Honestly I'm more worried about Percy. He's just barely beginning to accept the family's forgiveness. He's going to feel terrible again. We need to keep an eye on him. Make him feel needed or useful or something."

"Good idea," Hermione said. "We'll have to brainstorm on that one a bit."

"As for timing, well, I don't think there's a perfect answer. But, if you don't decide to tell everyone at once, I would really appreciate it if we could tell Ginny first or else she will kill me. But she may do that anyway."

"So, do we just dump it on them or do we ease them into it?"

_"Rip the plaster_," Ron said.

"Ron says do it all at once."

"Seems like its Ron's call," Harry agreed.

"OK, so all at once or one at a time? And how do we prove it to them? You can't beat them all in chess."

"And what about the memory?" Harry added. "Do we do the pensieve work before or after?"

They all sat quietly until Hermione heard him in her head. "_See if we can do the pensieve first. Maybe even this weekend. Then we'll have more to tell everyone as far as if the curse is reversible or what."_

She nodded. "He says to see if we could do the pensieve stuff this weekend and wait until after that to decide on timing to tell them."

"Good plan. One thing at a time. What time is it now? Hmm. Tea time. Think McGonagall would let me borrow Dumbledore's pensieve?"

"Well if she'd give it to anyone it would be you, Harry. But I don't think you can floo directly to her office from St. Mungos."

"Nah. I'll apperate to Hogsmeade and get Hagrid to let me in."

"What will you tell her?"

"I – um –"

_"_Oh, Ron says_ "Tell her that you've been investigating the attack on me and Hermione unofficially outside of your auror work and you have some memories that you would like to review as part of that_."

"Good plan. I'm going to go now. I'll send you a message if I can't make it back tonight. But at the latest it will be tomorrow morning. We're close, guys. Really close."

"Thanks Harry, I can't tell you how much it means to me. And Ron says the same."

"Of course. Wish I'd pulled my head out of my arse sooner, but glad I finally did it."

Hermione got up and hugged him, and then Harry quickly moved them both over so that he could embrace Ron at the same time as well. After a quiet moment with the three of them, Harry was off.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Despite her raised eyebrows and knowing glare, McGonagall agreed to let Harry take the pensieve with him that evening, and he had brought it straight back to St. Mungo's. Hermione couldn't believe it -they may actually be able to do this. And soon! She'd let the nurses know Harry was coming late and they were not to be disturbed. And, as Ursula looked like she'd rather be hexed than interrupt the Golden Trio, Hermione was confident they would be fine.

Harry had arrived with the pensieve as well as vials for the memories. They didn't waste time on the niceties, as everyone was clearly too keyed up. Hermione and Ron had talked about the stretch of memory they needed to capture – when to start and stop so they could best be combined. They'd debated for some time about whether they should do the whole time period from landing in Australia to when Harry and the aurors came, as they would likely need it eventually to track down all of the involved parties. But, they also both recognized how horrible of a time it was and both wanted to minimize having to think about it or see it if possible. Eventually they'd agreed that, for now, they would only focus on figuring out the counter curse and once that was solved, then they would devote energy to the justice side of the equation. So, when Harry went to collect the memories, they'd agreed to go from the moment Hermione they were captures to the time the last of the Death Eaters left the premises. While neither wanted to watch Hermione's torture, they agreed that they needed to be open to hearing anything they'd said and let slip before they left. So, with the worst hours of their lives brought freshly to mind, Harry lifted the wispy thoughts from both of their minds and captured them in the glass vials.

Harry had placed the bowl on the coffee table, and Hermione looked down at it. They'd talked about how to do this and concluded that Ron really couldn't go with them into the memory right now. Maybe in the future, but not yet. Hermione was anxious, both thrilled to get this elusive counter curse but terrified of reliving the worst day of her life. So, she sat there, silent, gripping Ron's hand fiercely and staring at the bowl.

_"Hermione, will you tell Harry what I say?"_

"Harry, Ron wants to tell you something."

"OK."

"Go ahead Ron...I'll speak as you go. '_Harry, I know you two can't get physically harmed in there, but that doesn't mean you can't get hurt in other ways. It's the worst day of her life, mate. Take care of her for me, and if it's too much, bring her back and go back another day, alright? Promise?'_" Hermione had teared up as she spoke the words for him, and by the end some were spilling down her cheek.

"Always," Harry said looking Ron in the eye and nodding in understanding.

_"And Hermione"? _Ron added_, "Don't watch the torture. Do you promise me? Focus only on those bastards and what they are saying and any spells they are casting. Don't watch either of us. Do you promise?"_

"_I'll promise to try my hardest to do that_," she responded silently. "_But I can't promise I will succeed. It will be ok, Ron. I'd endure the torture itself again and again if it would bring you back. Nothing else in the world is as hard as not having you here with me. I mean, I know you are, but..."_

_"I know what you mean. I love you. Try to focus on Crabbe. And remember this is all in the past. We make it out."_

She nodded, wiping away a tear that was threatening to fall down her cheek.

"Ok. If you two are done with your silent conversation, I'd like to get a move on. No use delaying. Sooner we start, sooner we get to the counter curse. I've poured both memories in there, let's go Hermione."

She nodded. Unable to speak without the risk of more tears. So, she kissed Ron, released his hand and turned to Harry, taking his hand and leaning into the memories.

As the memory started in a moment of total chaos, it took a minute to get her bearings. They'd been thrown into a pitch black space, but she could hear crying through the darkness.

"We're still in the locked shipping container at this point," she said. She could hear herself saying a tearful goodbye to Ron, and she even heard Harry sniff as he listened, succumbing to the bittersweet moment. After hearing the memory-couple kiss a painful goodbye, suddenly the door burst open wide and they were blinded with brightness.

As the interactions with the Death Eater goons continued, she and Harry stood close to the cloaked men trying to identify them, but, with no success. Then the man they knew to be Crabbe appeared from behind another container. He sidled up next to Ron and then indicated to several of the masked men to bring him to the other side of the warehouse space. Hermione immediately followed, but Harry was getting distracted by the memory-Hermione who was being kicked and punched while screaming for Ron.

Hermione pulled on Harry's arm, "You can't help her. She's ok. I'm right here. We have to stay with Crabbe."

He nodded and clenched her hand as if to reassure himself she was alright. Hermione was desperately trying to avoid looking at the memory versions of Ron or herself, but the sounds of Ron's cries of agony were impossible to ignore. She felt the panic climbing up her chest as her heart rate quickened and her fight or flight response kicked in. Harry noticed her increasingly clammy hands and began to worry.

"Hermione, don't panic. You're ok. We are both safe in this. Just watch Crabbe a little bit longer. If you start going into shock, I'll have to get you out of here."

"NO! No," she sighed. "I'm staying. I'm not leaving without what we came here for. I'm alright. Just need to take some deep breaths."

Harry eyed her dubiously, but he still helped her and modeled the deep breaths that she soon joined. They both stood there, hands clenched together, taking deep breaths as Hermione stared at Crabbe, and Harry darted his eyes between his friends in the memory and the various Death Eaters in the room. Before too long they were hearing Crabbe telling Ron how he was going to curse him in the cruelest way imaginable.

They watched as the memory continued and heard Crabbe scream that he was throwing up the sound shield between them. But, with the memories combined, no sounds were actually missing.

As Crabbe explained to Ron that he was basically going to be entombed in his own body, Hermione could feel the bile and rage and panic building in her chest, but she kept her eyes fiercely on the tormentor.

Then the memory they were in suddenly changed, and the sounds coming from Ron's side of the shield were garbled.

"This is Ron's altered memory," Harry said. "I think it's the altered sound and the real image."

"Shhh," she chastised.

She watched Crabbe like a hawk as his mouth moved, apparently explaining how he had developed the curse. She couldn't make out everything, but she could see a few words and wand movements she thought she recognized. She was desperately frustrated as she couldn't decipher what he said. Then, before she could jot down any notes, Crabbe had his wand out and was extracting the memory. But, as quick as the memory garbled, it was suddenly back in stereo sound and they could hear Crabbe sneering and laughing, waving the captured memory in a little vile that he stoppered and dropped in the pocket of his robe.

They could hear Ron yelling, desperate for her to know there was a counter curse, but they both kept their focus locked on Crabbe, who was still laughing. He continued to laugh and sneer as he lifted his wand and cast a complicated series of spells at Ron, "_Clavictus Totalus_, _Animus Postmuras, Corspiritum Vitas Temporalis_." Hermione desperately scribbled down what she could catch coming from Crabbe's mouth, but then both Harry and Hermione were overwhelmed by the sense of panic emanating from memory Ron, who's body was laying perfectly still on the ground. Then they watched Ron be propped up to watch Hermione's torture. This seemed to go on for ages as Crabbe's minions assaulted her, and Harry gasped when it appeared Hermione was about to be raped. But, then saw the last kick to her as the Crabbe walked away, leaving her bleeding and gasping for air in her shredded clothes on the floor.

Hermione forced Harry to follow the Death Eaters as they gathered up the items they'd scattered about. Crabbe simply sneered, smiled and disapperated. Hermione was turning to leave the memory when Harry tugged her hand. "Just another minute – til they leave, ok?"

She nodded and they watched the final minions, clearly the lowest on the hierarchy gathering up the last of the items. But then Harry gasped as two of them took of their masks. Suddenly they were staring at the faces of Goyle and Zabini, and Hermione was frozen in place, shocked that people she actually had known since childhood and gone to school with could have done that to her and to Ron. While she gawked at the now unmasked former classmates, she suddenly smiled when she heard Goyle say, "So, are we going back to the meeting point here in Australia or just meeting back in England?"

"You're such an idiot, Goyle. It's a ruddy miracle you survived the war."

"Shut up. Just tell me."

"Scotland, you ninny. At that hideout near Mavisbank."

"Does that one have nice bedrooms?"

"No," said Zabini as he rolled his eyes. "No secret hideouts have nice bedrooms, you dumb fuck. It's not a bloody hotel."

"Just tell me where to go, Blaise. I'm sick of you trying to pretend you're above me somehow when you know we are equally pond scum in this group."

"Zabini's are never pond scum."

"Whatever."

"Just appearte to that Wizard's pub in Lionhead, then you'll recognize the entrance. It's the one with the ugly ass gargoyle that you move to get in."

"Is that a swipe?"

"No, not you Goyle – an actual gargoyle. Fuck it, never mind, just come with me. Let's leave these two to their Australian vacation."

"Don't you feel even a little bad?" Goyle asked, "Malfoy would freak. He wouldn't care about Weasley, but he'd pined after Granger so long he'd be pissed if he knew."

"Nope. I don't feel bad at all. And Malfoy's a prat. He made his choice clear at the end, that turncoat. But I think Mr. Crabbe has a little vacation planned for him too. Serves him right, the bastard."

"Yeah. All he had to do was find Granger's parents, and then what do you know, they just happen to be too messed up to even talk to? You know he has them stashed somewhere safe. What does he think he's going to do, pop 'em out of a cake and ask her to marry him?"

"Idiot."

"Yeah, mental."

"Let's go."

And with that, the two disapperated away leaving a stunned Hermione and a gawking Harry.

"Holy shit," Harry muttered. "Did you know it was them?"

Hermione shook her head back and forth. "This part isn't my memory." Then, chancing a glance at the memory version of herself crumpled on the ground she added, "I think I am unconscious at this point."

Harry reached over and hugged her as he glanced between the two still bodies.

"How long did you lay here?"

"No idea," she said. "Time sort of moved in and out there for a while."

"I can only imagine."

"Yeah," she scoffed, "you are probably one of the only people who really could imagine it. Let's get out of here. I know they end up ok, but I can't watch myself crawl across the floor to him."

Harry hugged her tightly, and she tucked her face into his chest and cried just a little. Then she wiped the tears away, nodded and said, "Let's get back to Ron."

Harry smiled and nodded, tugging her hand, and then suddenly they were both back in Ron's hospital room. Ron was still there, motionless in the wheelchair.

Hermione went and hugged him tightly, tucking her face into the crook of his neck and whispering, "let me run to the loo first, then we'll get the legillemency connection established." Then she kissed him on the cheek, held his face for a moment and then hurried out of the room.

As soon as she was out of ear shot Harry sat on the coffee table in front of Ron. He sighed, took his glasses off, rubbed his eyes, and then put them back on before he spoke.

"Sorry, it's, well, it's a lot to take in all at once. But, you already know that part. You two are so fucking amazing. I just... Well, that's not what you want to hear. The short version is we didn't get the exact counter-curse yet, but I think Hermione got the whole string of original curses. But, well, we had no idea Goyle and Zabini were in on it. She said she had passed out for that part, so – that's huge. And, um, Goyle being the idiot that he'd always been, he let one of the hide-outs slip, so maybe that will be a huge lead too. But, well, you two are just absolutely brilliant. Really, how you both survived that I'll never understand."

He had just finished talking when Hermione came back out from the loo, clearly having taken a moment to wash her face and regain her composure.

"Just giving Ron the short version of what we learned."

She nodded and made her way over to Ron and soon had established the legillimens connection.

_"You're amazing. I'm so sorry you had to see that again. Are you ok?"_

"_I'm ok_," she nodded, speaking only in their heads. "_But I really don't want to ever have to do that again_."

_"No need. Harry can do it, or the aurors. You don't ever have to see that again."_

She simply nodded again.

Harry chuckled. "Can I be in on the conversation, too?"

Hermione smiled and said, "Oh I guess so."

"I told him we saw Goyle and Zabini," Harry said. "And that we got a lead on the hideouts they were going to, but of course that was about 9 months ago now. And, well, we also heard an interesting conversation about how those two thought Malfoy may have been protecting her parents. Hermione – did you know about that before?"

She shook her head no.

Ron spoke up to Hermione, "_Can you speak for me?"_ She nodded and started sharing his words.

"Ron wants me to share what he's saying. He says, _'I hadn't really remembered that part of the conversation as I had been focusing so much on trying to recall the counter curse. But now that you've reminded me, I think we need to see if we can connect with Malfoy, preferably on the down low. I don't know where things stand with her parents or with him, but I don't think we should risk bringing Hermione's parents back until we have these lowlifes handled. Harry, is the auror department clean these days? Could we reach out without a risk of a mole?_' Oh, good question, Ron."

Harry chuckled at how her tone changed when adding her own thoughts to Ron's questions. "Well, I think it's clean, but I don't want to take any risks we don't have to. I know as part of Malfoy's bargain to stay out of Azkaban he has to report for monthly probation check-in's with the aurors. And, other than when he checks in, I know he is staying at his heavily warded home for his own protection. I haven't done any of those interviews, but Neville has. I think I could work with Nev to be unexpectedly at their meeting. But, how would you want me to handle that. We could talk to Nev ahead of time about, well, about everything. Or I could just approach it as a confidential tip and go from there."

Hermione reached for Ron's hand and looked him in the eye. "_What do you think?"_ She asked Ron silently.

"_I think lets bring Nev in and let him know what we know. He'll just have to be really sensitive about not letting Gin know he knew before the family."_

_"Yeah, I agree. Will be easier for me too if more than just Harry know." _

_"We can tell anyone you want, Love. Anything I can do to make this one smidge easier for you I think we should do." _

_"Well, I'm hoping this is all over sooner rather than later." _

_"Me too. But Harry is looking at me with that uncomfortable smirk he used to have back when he knew we'd just been off snogging somewhere." _

_"Oh, right. I keep forgetting he can't hear this_," she said silently. Then she said, "Sorry, Harry. I just keep forgetting what you can and can't hear."

"No worries," he said with a smirk. "I just don't want to interrupt or anything."

Hermione smacked the back of his head. "Don't worry, Harry. I'll let you know when you need to leave."

"Right," Harry laughed.

"Anyway, what we were saying is that we both think we should bring Nev into the fold and let him know everything we know. We just need to be sure he can keep quiet about it and not let Gin or the rest of the family know he knew before them."

"Agree. It will be already be more than awkward when she figures it out, but anything we can do to limit the blowback I appreciate. But Nev's an auror. He's bound by his oath, not to mention he already holds more of our secrets that just about anyone else."

Ron laughed in Hermione's head. _"You know, the bloke just happens to kill a horcrux and save all of our lives and suddenly Potter's fawning all over him."_

Hermione laughed, and Harrys said, "What'd he say?"

"Oh, well, he was just teasing about how easy it is for you to trust someone when they've killed a horcrux and saved our lives, not to mention enabled you to kill Voldemort."

"Hah hah. I guess the Sword of Gryffindor is as good a judge of character as anyone."

"ANYWAY," Hermione said, "the point is we all agree that Nev should know. Are you going to talk to him or should we invite him up here?"

"I think I'll talk to him," Harry said. "Not that socializing is bad, but I want to figure this out as quickly as possible. If we wait and invite him for a social night and then reveal everything it will just delay things. I'd just as soon tell him tomorrow at the office. If for some reason he doesn't believe me I'll drag his arse in here to see for himself."

"Ok," nodded Hermione. "I'm with you. I want Ron back as soon as possible. Everything else can wait."

"Alright. I'll talk to Nev and we'll get with Malfoy. That may take a few days, but it shouldn't take longer than that. I'll pursue that end. What about the curses you wrote down, Hermione? Did you recognize them? Would you be able to figure out some of the counter curses from what you heard?"

"I'll have to look over my notes. Some of them were vaguely familiar, but I am pretty sure I got them all written down. I have a lot of those dark arts books we had on the horcrux hunt in my bag, so I will get to work on looking them up and pursuing that angle straight away."

_"Do that tomorrow, Hermione. Just having to see that again is more than enough for one day. And once Potter leaves we can just snuggle up and relax, ok? Don't spend the night reading about dark magic."_

She sniffed and nodded in agreement. "Ron says I need to take a break for the rest of today."

"Absolutely, that was so emotionally draining for me I can only imagine how you are feeling. You should call it a day as soon as I leave."

"I will. I promise," she said. "But you two know me well enough that tomorrow morning I am in research mode."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

After months of his life being nothing but a silent, lonely routine, the next few days were an exhausting blur of people and activity for Ron. While for so long he had wished for nothing but the ability for people to know he was alive, he had been slightly caught off guard by how draining he now found it to add each new person into the circle of people who knew he was alive. He even cringed a bit thinking of having to have this conversation with everyone he knew, especially within his family.

Harry had pushed hard to be able to tell Ginny, but Ron had openly pleaded with him to not tell anyone yet. He'd finally convinced Harry to wait to see if they could reverse the curse and then tell his family once it was all resolved. That way they wouldn't have to have Hermione interpret every single thing for everyone. Harry knew he'd pay for it later, but he really wasn't in any position to not honor his best mate's request after treating him like he was dead for nearly a year.

But despite the constant chaos of the past few days, the silent stillness in his hospital room was practically deafening to Ron's ears. He and Hermione had gone to bed hours ago, but despite her silence, he knew she was awake too. And frankly, he knew she knew he was also awake. And he was more than annoyed that she hadn't rolled over in his arms and cast the legillimens spell so they could at least hang out in this stressful silence together.

As he couldn't open his eyes, he didn't know what time it was, but based on the lack of sounds from outside the room, he sensed it was probably close to 4 in the morning, that quiet time when even the crazy all-nighter patients were in bed and too early for the early risers to be up.

As he and Hermione pretended to sleep, Harry, Nev and a team of trusted auror colleagues were supposed to be out raiding the hideout location in Mavisbank that Zabini and Goyle mentioned. Despite Hermione's protests, Harry had thankfully convinced Hermione that she had to stay at the hospital with Ron as if something happened to her then no one could communicate with him. Then Hermione had tried to get Harry to promise to come to the hospital straight from the raid, but Harry had talked sense into her once again, explaining that even if everything went perfectly according to plan that he wouldn't be able to come until late morning. They would have to process and interrogate anyone they arrested, and then as the junior aurors, Harry and Nev would be the last to leave after all of the paperwork was completed. Harry and Hermione had quarreled for a bit on whether Harry should send a patronus like Hermione had wanted him too. But, Harry argued that they didn't want to scare any of the healers or other patients on the ward who were already struggling with reality anyway. And so, they silently lay there together in the dark.

Eventually Ron felt Hermione carefully extricate herself from his arms and quietly tip-toeing to the bathroom. When she came out, he heard her place her hand on his arm and cast the legillimens spell.

_"Finally! I was hoping you'd check,"_ he sighed when she appeared in his head.

_"Sorry,"_ she replied defensively. _"I didn't want to chance waking you up if you'd managed to fall asleep."_

_"Didn't mean to snip at you,"_ he apologized. _"Just nervous or tired or who knows what."_

_"I know. Me too,"_ she admitted.

They both sat there in silence as she stroked his arm gently. Eventually she said, _"Do you want to talk about it?"_

_"Not really."_

_"Want to read?"_

_"Not really," _he chuckled.

_"Well, what do you want to do?"_

_"Um, any interest in a shower?"_ he asked sheepishly.

_"Well, that's an interesting option," _she giggled back_. _

_"And,"_ he argued, _"I think that's about the only thing I can offer where you won't be thinking of Neville or Harry."_

She laughed out loud at this, her eyes catching his.

_"Well that is definitely true,"_ she answered before she kissed him sensually. Slowly pulling back she rubbed her nose against his and stroked his hair_. "Give me a few minutes. I'll go get our shower going so we can be – uh – properly prepared for this day."_

_"Hah! I am so glad I've lived to see the day where Hermione Grangers thinks that properly preparing for the day doesn't include a library, but instead includes shagging me in the shower, even if I am still paralyzed,"_ he snickered back to her. _"My younger teenage self would never believe it."_

_"Hmm,"_ she hummed teasingly as she bent to kiss his cheek briefly. _"Just you wait, Ronald Weasley. I am very confident that the next few months will contain many, many activities that your teenage self might not have believed."_

With that, she smacked his bum with a wicked grin and walked slowly over to the bathroom, swaying her hips slowly as she went.

Ron groaned at her. _"You are a wicked tease, love. And as soon as I can move again, I am going to make sure you pay for it."_

He half expected her to pop her head back out from the loo. But instead of that he heard her internally say in a sultry voice, _"Oh you silly man, I'm absolutely counting on it."_

They'd enjoyed such a long shower that Hermione had barely had them both dressed by the time Alice had come in to start the morning routine. They'd powered through the initial therapy routine, Ron's nutritional potions and even Hermione's breakfast. By late morning, they were out of chores, and Ron was watching Hermione pace the floor, glancing at the clock every few minutes.

_"Hermione,"_ Ron prodded silently. _"You're going to wear a hole in the floor and end up falling into the infectious ward."_

She shot him an unamused glare.

_"Come on, love. Let's do something. Maybe you could read to me?" _

She rolled her eyes, and said curtly, _"can you even tell me the name of the main character in the story we are reading?"_

_"Uh, well...no."_

_"Exactly."_

_"Come on, Hermione. You're making me feel anxious, and that's hard to do."_

_"If you don't knock it off, I will just cut off the connection."_

_"Well, that's a bit of a horridly mean threat, don't you think?"_

She sighed, ran her hands through her hair and turned to him, when he noticed the glassy sheen to her eyes. _"You're right. I'm sorry. I don't know what is wrong with me. I'm so sorry, Ron. It's just – well, I can't help but wonder..."_

He cut her off, _"Hermione, come here, love. Here, sit on my lap for a minute, will you? Could you put my arms around you and lean into my chest for a bit?"_

She nodded, tears beginning to spill down her cheeks.

When she was settled against his chest, he said calmly, _"Better?"_

She nodded again, but said nothing.

_"It's going to be ok. There are several things that could happen – and all are ok. Harry could come back saying it didn't work or they didn't learn anything. He could say they caught them all but still know nothing about the curse. He could come in and say they learned some, but not enough. Or, he could come in as Potter somehow manages to do holding the golden snitch and beaming like a bloody fool."_

She chuckled, and Ron could feel the happy motion against his chest.

_"And, any of those things will be ok. As this morning's activities demonstrated, we can have a mighty good time here at the hospital without me being able to move. But, think of how much fun we will have if I can move."_

_"You know, to be honest Ron, I haven't allowed myself to even think about it. It's like – well, remember when we were on the horcrux hunt and we were so hungry and so lost? And I just couldn't even allow myself to daydream about what our lives could be like after it was all over. The joy of even the dream of it was just too good, and somehow even thinking of it would make the current situation that much harder. And I knew I couldn't do it."_

_"I know. But this isn't as awful as that. We are safe and here together, and if it never gets better, we are still ok. Not perfect, but ok."_

_"I know. But thinking about what it could be makes this feel not as good as I know it really is."_

_"Oh I understand."_

_"God, I'm so sorry. Here I am complaining and you're the one..."_

_"I'm the one who is lucky enough to be in love with you. And you believed in me and found a way to let me be alive again. But let's just agree that the situation has been challenging for both of us."_

_"OK."_

_"But, instead of daydreaming about what perfection could occur, let's approach it a different way, yeah? Let's assume that your brilliant mind will figure something out. Whether it is today or years from now, I know you'll do it. There just hasn't ever been a challenge I haven't seen you solve."_

_"Well, that's ridiculous..."_

_"Just play along, Hermione. Anyway, at some point the curse will be undone. So, then what? Let's look at that moment. What happens, do you think?"_

_"Well, it might hurt. Did it hurt when he cursed you?"_

_"Um, yes, I think it did, but it was all mixed in with all of the other pain and agony of the day, not to mention the panic. But it was brief. And I am not worried at all about the pain. It's worth any amount of pain."_

_"OK."_

_"So, then what? Let's use your brilliant brain to get ahead of this problem we will face at some point." _

_"Um, well, from what I think I understand, the things your body does automatically – like your heart beating or your lung breathing - they should all work immediately. It's the other muscles that haven't had as much constant use through spells which will be weak."_

_"Wait – isn't that what all the therapy routines are for?"_

_"Well, I guess theoretically they are. But, since none of these people think you are really in there, let alone have any hope of walking out of here, I don't know."_

_"Huh. Bollocks. So, can we come up with something to work on that now? Sort of get ahead of it?"_

_"Well," _she said, standing up and walking over to her shelf of medical texts._ "These should be able to give us some guidance on things as far as the anatomy of the muscles. And, while I don't know all of the spells surrounding them, they don't seem to be too hard to figure out."_

_"Brilliant. Let's work on that then. Here, can you bring those books over to the table and we'll start a routine to actually help me actually be my old self again."_

_"Um, ok. That's a good idea. But, moving is one thing, but I don't know about therapy for speech. Your vocal cords haven't moved at all. And it's not like with your arms that I can help you with. I can't reach into your throat make you talk."_

_"OK. Well, put that on a list of problems we need to figure out then."_

When she smiled and popped up to fetch some parchment, Ron internally grinned. He knew if he could get her to engage her brain in problem solving she would no longer be dissolving into the emotional puddle that was occurring only minutes before.

_"Oh and swallowing. I wonder if those are the same muscles as speech?"_

_"Good question. And I haven't the faintest idea."_

When Harry and Neville walked into the room a few hours later, Hermione didn't even look up as she was engrossed in reading a medical text and jotting down notes. Harry caught Ron's eye and smirked for a moment, laughing as he shook his head a bit.

"Hey, you two," Neville said as he shut the door.

"You're here!" Hermione said as she jumped up.

"Yeah, you've been so engrossed in whatever that is that you didn't hear us come in. Must be good."

"Well, Ron suggested we start figuring out what we need to do once he is released from this spell. Whenever that may be." Then anxiously she added, "Do you happen to have any more insight into when that might be?"

"Well, kinda," Harry said. "We did the raid, and it went better than expected. Got nine wanted Death Eaters off the list, including Crabbe senior, Zabini and Goyle."

"Really? They were all there? And did Crabbe give you the counter curse?"

"Um, not exactly. I haven't let on to him yet that we know anything about the curse or that it was him who took you to begin with," said Harry.

"Why, in heaven's name, not?" Hermione demanded, cutting Harry off.

"Long story," Nev jumped in. "Some of which we aren't legally able to tell you right now due to other ongoing investigations. BUT, none of that is exactly relevant at the moment as we got it another way."

"WHAT?" Hermione yelped as Ron did the same in his mind. "Why didn't you say so? Where is it? Can we do it now?"

"Hold on there, Hermione," Harry said. "Let's do this one step at a time. Can we all sit? Nev and I are pushing 30 hours without sleeping."

"Oh, sorry, of course, come on. Here, I can get you tea or biscuits or what do you need?"

"Hang on," Harry laughed. "We're ok. Just let us talk a moment," he said as they all sat around the table.

"We have the spell. We found a safe with multiple vials of memories. Looks like he tortured multiple people with this curse, and we can now at least prosecute him for all of them. And, hopefully we can find some and find out if they are still alive and can be given the counter curse as well. We added the vial of Ron's original memory to the ones you and Harry already looked at, and it fit perfectly. The hang up was that it mentions needing a potion. But, in the same safe we found his research notes and discovered notes detailing the curse, counter-curse and necessary potion, But," Harry cautioned, "before you make plans to check out today, it will take time. It involves brewing a potion from ingredients that are quite rare."

"But," Nev jumped in as he saw Hermione's eyes well with tears. "It just so happens that you are all friends with the resident Gryffindor Herbology Geek, and I have all of them growing in my personal greenhouse."

"Oh thank goodness," Hermione breathed. "So, can I see what you have?"

"You don't need to see that memory. And as for the notes, we weren't allowed to take the originals out of the Ministry as they are being held as evidence, but I may have unofficially just happened to have made a copy of them before we turned them over," Harry grinned. "And, of course I made another copy for you."

Hermione beamed as she took the stack of parchment from Harry.

"As you'll see," Harry continued, "since we have all of the ingredients, we should be able to brew the potion in about three weeks. And then once we get that made and Ron takes it, it looks like a quite simple spell to reverse it."

"Three weeks, Ron!" Hermione said. "Can you believe it?! Ron? Ron? Did I accidentally cut the connection, I haven't heard you say a thing?"

_"No, no,"_ Ron stuttered silently. _"I'm here. I think I'm just in shock. You really think we'll be able to reverse this is three weeks?"_

"Oh," Hermione translated. "He's here but just in shock. Three weeks? Really? We can have him back in three weeks?"

"We think so," Nev said. "Of course, don't you worry, Ron. I've got the ingredients, but I promise I won't be the one brewing the potion."

They all laughed at that, including Ron's silent laughter, which made Hermione reach for his hand.

"Ok, so the next question is, who _can_ be trusted to brew it?" Harry asked.

"Well, we were both rather good at potions," Hermione said gesturing between Harry and herself.

"Yes, that's true," said Harry cautiously. "But if you look carefully at the notes, you have to add different things at very specific times all around the clock throughout the three week period. And we can't set up a full potions lab in here, and last I checked you weren't willing to be away from Ron for three weeks. And while I would love to help, I can't take three weeks off either."

_"It should be George,"_ Ron said softly to Hermione.

"WHAT?" she asked aloud, causing both Harry and Neville to stare at her.

_"George. It needs to be George. Come on, Hermione. He's bloody brilliant at potions. He has a lab in the shop and lives just upstairs. As long as he hasn't gone and drowned himself in firewhisky, he could do it perfectly if Nev gives him the ingredients." _

_"You're sure?"_ she asked him, her eyes pleading. _"I know I can do this."_

_"I'm sure,"_ he said. _"We just need to bring him into the fold, obviously. And we can't tell him and not Gin, and once we tell those two, Bill will be all put out if we don't tell him too. Blimey, it is a can of worms isn't it?" _

She laughed a little and nodded.

"Care to enlighten us?" Neville asked.

_"Tell them. Tell them it should be George, and then we'll let Harry figure out the order of who has to know what. He's spent more time than anyone with them and will know best right now."_

She nodded at Ron, turned to Harry and Neville and said, "Well, Ron says that without question, he thinks George should be the one to brew it. He has a lab in the shop and lives upstairs, so he can be there at all hours of the day and night without raising suspicion." Noticing Harry's unease she continued, "He also said that he knows telling one family member is opening a can of worms and that Harry should figure out who we tell in what order as we all know Ginny needs to know too. But, since Harry has spent more time with them all recently than the rest of us, he should be the one to figure out who to tell when."

Neville nodded his head once, agreeing with Ron's thoughts. All eyes then turned to Harry, which was still processing Ron's words. After a few moments, Harry slowly nodded his head as well.

"OK," he said, letting out a slow breath. "Yeah, I think Ron's right. It hadn't occurred to me, but George is the right man for the job. So, as for the next part, I think we should try to tell Gin and George as close together as possible. Gin's been away, but she is supposed to come home this evening for a few days off, so the timing is perfect. And, let's hold off on anyone else for now."

_"Hey – can you tell them I want to at least be there when they tell Gin and George?"_

Hermione nodded, saying, "Ron says he wants to be there when George and Ginny learn the news. Can we get them here without spilling all the beans?"

"I think so," Harry said. "I'll tell her tonight that I want her to come with me to St. Mungo's in the morning. She'll probably grumble, but she'll come. And we'll see if we can get George here around the same time. What time does he open the shop?"

He looked to Hermione, who simply shrugged. "How would I know?"

Neville piped up, "It opens at 10 tomorrow. But, we can let him know I'll be glad to open up if Verity can't cover."

"You work at the shop?" asked Hermione, slightly dumfounded.

"Not really, but I've stepped in a few times when he is short."

"Huh," Hermione said, still gazing at Neville.

_"Didn't see that one coming,"_ Ron mumbled to Hermione.

_"No kidding,"_ she answered silently.

Harry nodded, "Right, so, I'll talk to Gin, who is talking to George?"

"I'll send him an owl," Hermione said. "I'll send him a note saying I really need him to be here at 9 tomorrow, and that I've asked Nev to pop over to the shop to be sure he's covered."

"Won't he think that's weird?" Harry asked.

"Probably. George has always thought most things I do are weird, including falling for Ron," she teased.

_"Hey!"_ Ron protested.

She turned to wink at him before continuing. "I'll simply tell him I've been working on a problem that needs his unique insight and could he please pop in before work. I'll say I asked Nev and he suggested George was the only one who could help, and that's how I got Neville to cover the shop. And, of course, none of that would actually be a lie."

"OK. Sounds like a plan. We'll have them here at 9. Then what? How do you want to tell them?"

_"Tell him we'll work on that today, ok?"_

Hermione said, "Ron said to say we'll work on that today."

_"And can you ask Harry when he thinks we should tell Bill?"_

Hermione nodded to him, "and he wants Harry's thoughts on when to bring Bill into the fold too."

Harry laughed. "Let's just hold off on Bill and play it by ear. And, Hermione, there is no way Ron actually said 'bring Bill into the fold.'"

Hermione heard Ron's laughter in her head as she replied, "I may have paraphrased that part. And if his laughter is any indication, he concurs with your assessment."

At that, all three boys were laughing. Hermione was flustered and finally said, "What am I supposed to do with the three of you. It's absurd, really. Now, you two go home and get some sleep. And, well, thank you. Really, thank you both so, so much."

She went to hug both of them, only letting go when she heard Ron muttering about how she should let the nice aurors go take a nap. Then Neville and Harry each patted Ron affectionately on his back and promised to see them soon.

Hermione walked them to the door, and as soon as it closed she heard Ron say, _"Well, holy shite."_

And she surprised him by saying, _"Couldn't have said it better myself."_


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The following morning George Weasley was walking towards the Thickney ward from St. Mung's floo lobby when he saw Ginny.

"Well, why am I suddenly suspicious that me running into my little sister and her Boy Wonder isn't coincidence?" he said with a stern voice. "What's going on?"

"Hell if I know," Ginny muttered. "All Harry will say is that he really needed me to bite my tongue for one morning and come with him to see Hermione."

George looked at Harry, "Care to explain?"

"Oh trust me, I would love to explain, but there is someone who would hex me if I did. Come on, let's go."

And with that all three headed to Ron's room. They opened the door to find the room transformed into a living room setting, with Hermione seated on a couch next to Ron and tea set out for all of them.

"Hi everyone," Hermione said nervously. "Please come in and have some tea."

"Harry..." Ginny muttered sternly to her boyfriend.

"It's ok. I promise," Hermione said quickly. "Give me fifteen minutes. And if after that you want to leave, then it's fine. But please, can you at least give me fifteen minutes?"

Ginny and George both sighed, nodded and entered the room in resignation. Neither spared more than a glance at their brother, and instead kept their eyes on Harry. Harry, in turn, looked to Hermione and nodded his head to encourage her to start. Hermione smiled tightly, squeezed Ron's hand and took a deep breath.

After letting it out slowly, she said. "So, I know you will both think I'm nuts for a few minutes. But please hear me out. And, to be fair, Harry already knows what I am going to say, but I made him swear under threat of bodily harm to not say anything until now."

Ginny and George looked nervously between each other and Hermione, but said nothing.

"It's been no secret," Hermione continued, ignoring the doubting faces, "that I have refused to believe Ron was gone. And it is also no secret that no one here at the hospital or in the family agreed with me. I know that, and its fine. But, things have changed in the past few weeks..."

Ginny exhaled in relief, "Oh Hermione, I'm so glad you've come around. I've been so worried about you. And I've missed you so much."

Harry winced as Hermione said, "No Gin, that's not it. I realized I just hoped Ron was alive and trapped in his body. But I didn't know. But now I do. I do know. I have proof. He is there, and I need help bringing him back."

Ginny stood up to storm out of the room, but Harry was quickly on her heels. "Please, Ginny. Please, give her fifteen minutes. You too, George. After everything, the least we can all give Hermione is fifteen minutes."

George muttered and sat back down, but Ginny held Harry's stare.

"Please, Gin," he finally sighed.

"Fifteen minutes. Not a minute more," she acquiesced.

"Thanks. And, since my time is limited, I'll cut to the chase. Ron's here. He was cursed by Crabbe senior with an evil curse that mimics a stroke to the brain stem. Muggles call it locked-in-syndrome. His is similar, but not exactly the same, to the muggle cases. His mind and senses all work perfectly, but his body is unable to receive messages to move in any way, so we can't see his reactions."

"Seems convenient," Ginny muttered. "So, what, we just trust you?"

"Well, while I would hope so, I know I needed proof to know it, so I should offer you the same courtesy. I learned legillimency, and Ron and I have been able to talk for a few weeks now."

"What?" George said, clearly stunned.

"She's mad!" Ginny said, clearly unconvinced.

"Gin, I didn't believe it either. But, she's telling the truth. He's alive and sitting right here with us," Harry said softly.

"And just how do you know? Are you a legillimens all of a sudden?" Ginny snapped back.

"No. But Hermione challenged me to a game of chess..."

"She doesn't ever play you in chess."

"Exactly – because she always loses. But this time she followed Ron's directions and destroyed me in under five minutes."

"Rubbish," Ginny continued, but George silently got up and made his way over to his brother on the couch.

"Are you really still here?" he whispered, eyes shining.

_"Hermione, speak for me?"_ Ron asked.

Hermione said, "He's asked me to say what he'd saying, George. _'George, I'm sorry it's me and not Freddie. If I could let him be the one to come back, I would. But it's me._'"

George was shaking his head, tears coming down his face, still not believing, but no longer disbelieving.

Hermione continued sharing Ron's words, saying, "_'You can ask me to prove it any way you want. I can play you in chess. Or you can ask me stories about our childhood that Hermione would never know. Just ask. I'm right here.'_"

George stared at him and asked, "Ok, little brother. The night after Fred's funeral, what did I tell you that you hadn't known, and then what advice did I give you?"

Ron laughed and said, _"Uh, Hermione, I may not have mentioned this. But you need to say it the exact way I do. No paraphrasing."_

She looked at him and asked silently, _"what did he say?"_

_"Just say what I say."_

Hermione said,_ "_He said I'm not allowed to paraphrase here because apparently this will be new information to me. He says, _'That night we went out to lay in the middle of the quidditch pitch at The Burrow. And after I got you good and truly pissed you said that you knew Fred loved me because - Hermione, don't freak out here - because as much as Fred was head over heels for Hermione' _Wait, **WHAT?** Ronald Weasley, what are you talking about?"

But while Hermione turned to look at Ron and demand answers, she found that George had beaten her to it and was now sobbing and holding his baby brother in a tight embrace. Hermione turned to Harry, who simply mouthed "FRED?" and Hermione only shrugged. Meanwhile, Ginny was slowly walking towards her two brothers.

"Ron? Are you really there, Ron?"

"He says, _'Yeah, Gin. It's me. Ask me anything._'"

"What did I whisper in your ear after the Battle of Hogwarts?"

Hermione responded, "He's laughing at your question, but now he's saying, "_You said, 'War hero or not, you're still a bloody Weasley, so you better use protection when you shag Hermione.'_ Really, Ginny?"

But again, Hermione's indignant protests were lost as the siblings were now a mess of tears of joy and grief.

"Careful guys, don't block his airway," Hermione cautioned.

This caused both George and Gin to jump back as if scalded to be sure they weren't suffocating their newly resurrected brother, which made Ron laugh in Hermione's head.

_"I'm not translating you laughing at them,"_ she protested silently. _"And Fred? Are you kidding me? What the hell?"_

_"Not now, Hermione. George is about to lose his shite."_

"I, I – I don't understand," George said. "They tried legillemency three times after you came to hospital. That was the protocol for declaring you brain dead. Did they not do it right?"

Hermione spoke Ron's words, "He says, _'aside from needing to change their clearly rubbish protocol, I think I was unconscious for a month or so before I started being aware of things again. So, they could have tried three times when I was still basically not there.'_"

Ginny started vascillating between mortification and fury. "I, I, we just ignored you! Hermione you should have told us right away!"

_"Hey,"_ Ron protested. "_Tell them I said to lay off you."_

_"No,"_ Hermione protested.

_"Hermione,"_ Ron said in a warning tone.

"Look, Ron's mad at me for not saying what he's saying right now, but I'm not going to say that, Ron. But what I will say, Gin, is that I have tried my best. I just knew he was there. And I wish I could have convinced you all earlier. But I started noticing more and more little hints he was with us. And then one day it hit me that I needed to learn legillimency. That's taken me a few weeks..."

"A few WEEKS?" George gawked.

"Yes," she said, ignoring his tone. "And then with that, I learned that not only was Ron alive, but he knew there was a counter curse to get him back."

"What?" Ginny and George both cried.

"Ok, you two," Harry said. "Can you just sit and let her explain everything? Otherwise this will take forever."

"Yes, yes. Sorry," George said as he sat back down, eyes still locked on Ron.

"Thanks, Harry," said Hermione. "Well, I'll skip the academic details for now and we can fill that in later. But, what you need to know for now is that he is in there, and his mind and soul are all intact. We can talk with him. And, through that we have been able to retrieve both his and my memories of the events. And, Harry helped us combine them. Harry and I went back using a pensieve and got some much needed clues. Those led to some top secret auror work by Harry and Neville I'm not supposed to know about. But, that led us to where we are now. We have the counter spell. We know it. But it also requires a rather complicated potion made from quite rare ingredients. Luckily, Neville being Neville, he had them in his greenhouse. But, the potion will be complicated."

Hermione paused, not knowing quite how to move the conversation forward. Looking to Harry, he jumped in.

"What it comes down to," Harry said. "Is that Ron wants George to brew the potion."

"George?! Why not Hermione? No offense George," Ginny said.

"None taken," George said. "But I'm not half bad at potions when Snape isn't breathing down my neck."

Hermione spoke up, "Ron says, _'That's exactly it, George. You're bloody brilliant at it, and you have a private lab at your disposal that you can access 24 hours a day since you live upstairs. Hermione can't be setting up a lab in here, or leaving at random intervals throughout the next three weeks. The potion is complicated, it will take a huge commitment to do it, and I know others will be glad to help, but, well, I would really feel best about this whole thing if you brewed it.' _"

"Of course I'll do it. I'd do anything to get you back. Any of us would. I hope you know that."

"Absolutely, Ron. Anything. What can I do?" Ginny added.

Harry spoke up, "Well, before this conversation, Ron, Hermione, Neville and I were the only ones who knew about this. We talked about the best way to handle everything, as we know the whole family will be furious at us once they know we knew for a while before telling them. But, the truth of it is, Hermione is the only legillimens we know, and she can't just translate for everyone around the clock. So, we all decided it would be best to put all of the energy into getting Ron back first and then handling the family dynamics later. But, well, the truth of it is, we have no idea how to manage that. We would love to let Bill in, and see if he can add any insight as a curse breaker, but then we don't want Percy and Charlie to feel left out, and so on."

"Yeah, we can be a rowdy bunch," George laughed. "Ginny, you can handle the family dynamics. I'll gladly take the potion brewing assignment."

She punched him in the arm. But then nodded her head. "Yeah, I can see it will be a mess. But, you don't want me to say anything now, right?"

"Right," Hermione said. "But we'd love some insight on whether or not there is a way to bring in Bill without leaving Percy and Charlie as the odd men out. And also if you have any ideas on how to spring this on your mum without creating an utter disaster, we'd all love to hear it."

"You know she is going to want you to move back home immediately, right?" Ginny asked Ron.

_"Tell her, Hermione. Tell her I am moving home. My home is with you, and it isn't at The Burrow."_

Hermione shot him a glare.

"What did he say that got your knickers in a twist so fast?" George smirked.

"Isn't it just like those two to find a way to fight using legillimency?" Harry laughed.

After shooting Harry a similar glare, Hermione said, "Ron and I have had a lot of time to talk about where we want to go, and while we don't know where it will be, I can say with certainty that it won't be The Burrow. We don't want to hurt your parents, but quite frankly, it has been an incredibly difficult year both physically and emotionally for both of us, and we'll need to be somewhere we can both heal. And given everything that has happened, that will probably be a small flat for the two of us alone."

_"Don't make it sound so dire, love."_

_"Shut it, Ronald. They don't need to hear how I want our own flat so we can shag whenever we want,"_ she silently communicated.

_"That's my girl," _he laughed.

"I understand, Hermione," Ginny said carefully. "I am really so, so sorry for everything. And, well, I absolutely understand that there are many different things that have been broken and need time and space to heal. I hope that in time we will all be in a healthier, stronger place."

Harry smiled and reached for Ginny's hand. "When it comes down to it, the only one who didn't fail Ron is Hermione. So, none of us are alone in that. And we could waste a lot of time falling over ourselves feeling guilty about it. Trust me – I'm an expert at that. But, for now, we need to focus on getting him back fully. And, to do that, we need to be sure that word doesn't get out and distract our time and focus. So the longer we can put off telling the family, the better. None of the staff know what is going on, either."

"Well, actually, I think Alice suspects it but hasn't said anything."

"Hmm. I guess that's not a great surprise," said Harry.

"Hah!" Hermione said. "Ron told me about how she called you out, O Great Chosen One."

"Yeah, he had a front row seat for that one."

"What happened?" George asked.

"I had come to stay with Ron while Hermione ran an errand. And Alice came in and saw that I had basically parked Ron in front of the window and proceeded to do my paperwork at the table, utterly ignoring my best mate for hours. Let's just say that Alice helped me see the error of my ways and reminded me that as someone who survived the killing curse twice I should maybe be more open to the idea that there are many things that exist outside of our concept of what is and isn't possible."

"Ouch," said George.

"Well, I deserved it. And, clearly she was right. But, yeah – not a shock that she knows something's up."

"Anyway, Ron and I will take care of talking to Alice, and we will let you know when we do. But, she can be trusted to not tell anyone. And, frankly, Ron and I need her expertise. Based on how long the potion takes to brew, it looks like we have three weeks to do some intense rehab work to build up his muscles to be able to do things like speak, swallow and move once he is free of the curse. The rehab he's been doing is more to just keep him loose and flexible, but as no one thought he'd walk again, the exercises haven't been designed to get him ready for it."

"Huh," George said thoughtfully. "Wouldn't have occurred to me."

_"Me either, mate. So it's good I've Hermione thinking of this stuff for me,"_ Ron said to only Hermione's ears.

Hermione smiled and said, "Ron says it wouldn't have occurred to him either so please don't feel bad."

Gin laughed and rolled her eyes. "Right, I'm sure that's the word for word translation. Sounds just like him."

Hermione blushed and laughed. "Yeah, I am tired of getting flak for my paraphrasing. That's exactly why we need to get this curse reversed so he can speak for himself and not fall prey to my paraphrasing skills."

The group fell into more comfortable conversation, with Hermione interpreting for Ron. Both siblings wanted to linger and talk to their brother, but Harry encouraged them to try to wait on many of those conversations.

"If we all stay on task, we can all talk to him directly in a few weeks," Harry said. "Let's not get distracted yet."

George hugged Ron tightly, looked him in the eye and whispered in his ear so only he could hear, "Thank you for trusting me with this. I will do this. I promise you. And, Ron, I never, ever want to hear you say ever again that you wish it was Fred. I wish it was both of you, but bloody hell, Ron. I get my brother back. Don't you ever think that I would want it any other way."

Then with tears in his eyes, he got up to leave.

"Wait, George. I'll walk out with you," Ginny called. "These three probably want to talk about all of this without us, which all things considered, I won't harass them about it. Well, not this time anyway."

Then she got up to hug Ron tightly. Sighing, she said, "There are too damn many things to say, so I'll stick with I love you. The rest will wait." Then she kissed his cheek, hugged Hermione, and went to join George at the door. "See you three soon." And with that, they left the hospital room, leaving the trio alone and quiet once again.

Hermione closed her eyes and slumped against Ron. "I'm exhausted. If it took that much energy to tell those two, how the hell are we ever going to tell your mum?"

Harry chuckled softly and said, "don't get ahead of yourself. You guys did great today. You've both been amazing and deserve to celebrate. Can I go get some food for you or stay here while Hermione goes to fetch something?"

Hermione looked to Ron.

He sighed_, "Honestly, love, I think I'm so physically and emotionally drained I just want to kip in that awesome muggle chair that tips back and not think about anything at all."_

She laughed, "Uh, Thanks, Harry. But, apparently Ron votes for taking celebratory naps in a recliner."

"Sounds about perfect to me," Harry said.

"Are you headed into work?"

"Yeah. A lot of follow up from the raid the other night that isn't related to you two. But, seriously, don't hesitate to let me know if you need anything, alright?"

"Yes, of course. Thank you, Harry. We're going to kip, and then whether he likes it or not, we're going to start working on the rehab to get ready for getting out of here."

Harry hugged Hermione tightly, kissed the top of her head and then patted Ron on the back. "See you two soon," he said, and then he headed out the door as well.

Hermione turned to Ron and smiled, "And then there were two."

_"I love you,"_ he said sleepily. _"But I might love you even more if you transfigure this into a recliner, put out the lights and come curl up with me."_

"Let me tell the nurses we are not to be disturbed, and I will do exactly that. I am just as drained as you are I think."

And, true to her word, less than ten minutes later, and both of them were curled up together in the muggle recliner.

_"And what in the world was all of that about Fred?"_

_"You really want to talk about that now?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Apparently he had quite the crush on you for a while. Started during the Triwizard Tournament apparently. He wanted to ask you to the ball, but George insisted I should get to do that."_

_"Oh my."_

_"Well, yeah. Didn't work out for anyone, I suppose. Well, anyone except for sodding Viktor Krum. But anyway, don't worry – he didn't die still crazy about you. George said he had been dating several witches when they were living on Diagon Alley. But, George just told me that because he wanted to me to know how much Freddie loved me. And, well, if he gave up his shot at the most amazing witch in the world for me, then yeah, he must have loved me a lot."_

_"You Weasleys are a complicated bunch."_

_"Hah! That is for damn sure. Now, if you are quite finished talking about how my brother wanted to shag you, I would like to kip for a bit."_

_"Ron! I was what – fifteen? I wasn't even thinking about shagging anyone at fifteen."_

_"Hmm. That makes one of us. Can we sleep now?"_

_"Please do."_

_"I love you."_

_"Yeah, yeah. Me too. Now sleep."_


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The next day, Hermione was up and ready when Alice came in at the start of her shift.

"Good morning, Hermione. You look eager to start the day."

"Good morning, Alice. I am eager to start today. I was wondering, is there any way you could swing back by here when you've done your morning rounds on all of your other patients. I was hoping to talk through some ideas with you, but I don't want to disrupt your work."

Alice eyed her carefully. "Well, since this is my work, you obviously wouldn't be interrupting. But, you already know that. How about I ask Sian and Martha to pick up my other patients this morning, and then I'll come back with two cups of tea and you can tell me what's really going on."

Hermione grinned. "I'd appreciate that, Alice."

When Alice returned, Hermione had the room transformed into a sitting room and had put out some of the biscuits she had picked up on one of her shopping trips. Alice sat comfortably in one of the chairs, took a sip of her tea and said, "So, are you finally going to tell me what is going on?"

Hermione nodded and reached for Ron's hand. "Actually, _we_ will be telling you about it."

Alice raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"I realized legillimency was the answer, Alice."

"But he was tested three times, Hermione. The healers who are legillimens were unable to find any signs of life."

"That's right," Hermione said. "But that is because he was unconscious for the first month."

"So we need to find a legillimens?"

"No, I decided to become one. So I did. That's what all the studying has been."

"You learned it that quickly? It takes most people years."

"That's what I'm told, but apparently with proper motivation it can be done much quicker."

"Apparently," laughed Alice.

"And, Mr. Weasley, what do you think of all of this?"

_"Speak for me?"_

Hermione said, "He says, _'It's like you told Harry the day he parked me in front of that window, Alice. People like us are the ones who should be open to the things declared impossible being possible after all.'_"

Alice's jaw opened slightly as she processed what was said. "Well, it is wonderful to finally meet you," she said in a shaky voice, nodding and smiling at Ron.

"He says _'you too Alice._'"

Alice wiped a tear from her eye. "Sorry. I've worked on this ward my whole career. And you are the first person I've ever cared for that might actually get to go home. I've hoped for it for months – even suspected it at times – but never really thought I might see it."

"Oh, Alice. We couldn't have gotten this far without you," Hermione said as she got up to hug the older witch. "But now we need your help to get him all the way better."

With that, Hermione went into a longer explanation of how they had discovered the counter curse and how they were working on the potion, but that they needed to figure out an aggressive rehab program to begin to Ron ready for this next phase.

While Alice had initially been slightly gob-smacked at the revelation of Ron's situation, Hermione's logical and thorough outline of the challenging obstacles they still faced had switched her back into the mode of an intent, logical professional. It was only a few minutes before Hermione and Alice had covered the extended table in parchment and were drawing out the different movements that he would need to be able to do after the paralysis was lifted. And, being Hermione, there was of course an outlined list.

1\. Throat: swallowing, speaking

2\. Fine motor skills: fingers, writing, wand work

3\. Gross motor skills: walking, lifting

4\. Core strength: Sitting up, rolling over, walking

Ron had been practically yelling in Hermione's head to add more enjoyable uses of those muscle groups to each category like snogging and shagging, but she adamantly ignored him.

Finally, her cheeks blazing red, she turned to him and said, "That's it! I told you that if you couldn't at least be helpful then at the very least you could shut up. And since you clearly can't do that, then I will do that for you." And with that she cut off the legillimens connection.

"Did you just cut the link?" Alice scoffed, glancing between Ron and Hermione.

"Maybe," she admitted softly.

"Hermione! What if he needs you?"

"And, Ron! She is trying to be helpful. Please try to do the same, alright?"

Hermione nodded guiltily, and quickly re-established the link.

_"I'm sorry, love. I really am. I just had to cut the tension in here. Someone needed to laugh, and it clearly wasn't going to be me. But, yeah, I'm sorry._"

_"I'm sorry too,"_ she said silently, and then quickly kissed him.

_"Can you apologize to Alice for me? Tell her I was being an immature git and that I'm really sorry?"_

Hermione smiled, turned to Alice and said, "Ron apologizes for being an immature git, and I apologize for being an immature basket case. We both really appreciate you not only putting up with us through all of this, but also for helping us."

"You two are a perfect pair. Partly because no one else could put up with you, and partly because no one else could ever be good enough for you. But, that's enough of that, can we get back to our work now?"

Hermione grinned and nodded, and soon she and Alice were plotting out which rehab exercises would help for which problem. She also drew out the progression of rehab exercises so that as a skill was gained, another could be added. Then Alice began to walk Hermione and Ron through the various routines.

"So, here is what we really need to work on," Alice said as she moved some furniture out of the way. "The biggest problem, at least one of your biggest problems, is that you have not been bearing any weight on your legs for almost a year now. While I know you can't support yourself yet, you have to start getting used to being upright on your feet. So, we have to rig up a system where you are on your feet for an increasing amount of time each day. We'll only do it for a few minutes at a time today, because you may feel light headed. But you guys will keep at it."

And, before long, Alice and Hermione had Ron strapped on to a table that slowly tilted vertically to increasingly add weight to his legs.

_"If I didn't trust you more than I trust myself, I would be very afraid right now,"_ he mused with a chuckle.

"Oh, hush. You're fine. We didn't come this far for me to let anything happen to you now," Hermione laughed as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.

Alice smirked at the two of them as she listened to one side of the banter. "Well, I think you two seem to have this under control for now. I'll be sure to only let on I know anything when we are alone. So, Ron, please don't be offended if I ignore you in front of others."

"Thanks, Alice," Hermione said as she hugged her. "And Ron says thanks as well. He also says that once this is all over, we are going to have you over for dinner and see how funny you are when you get sloshed. And I'm trying really hard not to scold him for that," she admitted.

Then they both chuckled as the door closed.

_"We're getting there, love. We're getting there,"_ Ron said.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

This was it. Today was THE day they had all been working towards for months. The potion was to be ready by early afternoon, and all of those "in the know" would be assembling in Ron's hospital room at 4 pm.

Neither of them had slept much the night before. They'd once again ended up in the shower in the early hours of the morning, but even that seemed smothered by the anxiety they both felt. What if it didn't work? What if he regained some abilities but not others, or what if this caused intense pain? Or he got his body back but lost his mind? What if the counter curse wasn't the right one? Or if it was performed incorrectly? Or if the potion wasn't right?

Or, equally overwhelming was the question of what if it did work? What then? How would they explain everything to the staff? Or to the family? And then what? Would St. Mungo's kick him out immediately? Or keep him stuck there?

They'd discussed these infinitely unanswerable questions for days, but no clear plans had emerged. Ultimately, they decided that Alice would be the one who would handle the medical issues that arose. And if it all worked, then she would be the one to figure out how to tell the selected healers and staff that needed to immediately be informed.

There was also the question of who was to perform the spell itself. Hermione said she wanted to do it, but Ron talked her out of it. He said he needed her to be utterly focused on supporting him emotionally and serving as a translator for him if anything happened. She fought back, but she eventually lost that argument. And admittedly, everyone was pretty surprised when Ron wanted Neville to do it.

_"Neville? Really?"_

_"No question. I've put a lot of thought into this. I want Neville,"_ he'd said adamantly.

_"Not that I don't adore Neville, but, um, really? I mean, maybe we could let Bill know, as he is a curse breaker after all."_

_"Look, as far as skill, I know any one of you could do it. And, Neville isn't the same little boy that was accused of being a squib. He may have been a late bloomer, but he can do this. He has saved us before. He pulled the bloody Sword of Gryffindor out of the Sorting Hat and killed a Horcrux. And honestly, if for some reason it all doesn't work, he is the only one that isn't more or less a family member. I can't have you, Harry, Gin or any of my brothers feeling guilty or responsible if something goes wrong. Neville is the one who can be most objective and most clinically separate."_

_"But what if –"_

_"Hermione, I really need you to trust me on this. I don't have the ability to do anything. Nothing at all. And I haven't been able to protect you or any of those I love in any way for months. But, I CAN do this one tiny thing. I can arrange it so that if this kills me or somehow makes things worse, then at the very least, I don't leave the woman I love, my best mate or my siblings thinking it was their fault. I need you to let me do this. I have to do this. And I trust Neville to do it."_

_"OK,"_ she finally acquiesced.

_"Thank you,"_ he'd said earnestly. _"Really, thank you for not fighting me on this."_

They'd asked Neville to come by one evening to ask him to be the one to do the spell. Neville had been as surprised as Hermione had been.

Then Ron had also asked Hermione to translate for him. Soon, Hermione was saying "He says, _'Thanks, mate. I know you can do it, and I really am at peace putting this in your hands. But, on the off chance that something goes wrong, I need you to be in charge of the situation. I'll need you to work with Alice to handle it, keeping everyone safe physically, emotionally and legally, alright? And no matter if it goes well or goes poorly, will you ensure that Alice is ok and that her professional reputation and job standing isn't harmed in any way?'_ Ron, that's not really fair to put all of that on Neville's shoulders."

But Neville cut Hermione off, holding Ron's stare seriously, "No, Hermione. I'll do it. I'm honored to be entrusted to do this. And I am confident it will be ok, but if it isn't, I promise I will take care of the people he loves the most in every way. Thank you for your trust, Ron. It means more than you know. I won't let you down."

Hermione started crying, but Neville hugged her tightly and began getting her to laugh, knowing it would be how Ron would have handled it.

With those big decisions made, it only left the family dynamics to worry about. Ron decided that other than making sure Hermione didn't have to carry all of the weight, he really didn't care, and he left it up to his sister. Ginny could handle it. Or not. It wasn't his to worry about as far as he was concerned.

Everything else they would only be able to figure out if and when the situation presented itself.

So, despite the swirling questions and unfixable tension, Hermione and Ron had tried to plough through the morning as if it were any other day. They'd done his nutritional potions, and spent hours on rehab, spending extra time on his throat muscles that morning in hopes that he would be able to speak or maybe even drink later that day. Then Hermione had declared that she needed air, so she packed up some food and tea and moved them out to the rooftop terrace. She wouldn't have brought food at all, but Ron was insisting she eat.

_"Hermione, you have to eat. No matter what happens later it is going to be emotional and exhausting. You can't go into it already weak from lack of food. Eat the apple, and then I want you to at least take a few bite of that sandwich Essie brought you. I put up with that nasty nutrition potion earlier, so you can at least have a few bites to eat."_

She'd nodded and tried to eat, but it was clear her heart wasn't in it.

"Come here, love. Just sit on my lap, ok? Can you put my arm around your waist?"

She nodded and did as he said, leaving the barely-eaten apple on the bench. Then she curled into his chest and snuggled against his warmth, calmed by his heart beat. But it wasn't too long before Ron could feel her shaking slightly and then felt the wet tears seeping through his shirt.

_"Don't cry, Hermione. Don't cry. It's going to be ok."_

_"But you can't know that," _she'd replied silently_._

_"Well, ok, fine. But I know that after months of hard work and research, we are at least getting closer to the end of this puzzle. I could be ok in just a few hours."_

_"But you could be worse. And I don't know that I could go on."_

_"Of course you could. And you would. Because I would be mighty furious if you gave up on life. If Fred's death didn't kill George, then my death shouldn't kill you."_

_"Well, it's totally different."_

_"Not really."_

_"Are you saying Fred and George were shagging, Ronald?"_ she said, the amusement creeping into her silent words.

_"Uh, noooo. I'm not. But I am saying they knew each other better than anyone else in the universe. Fred understood George more than George did. And I think that's the same for us. And it was awful, but George survived and is living. And you would do the same. Because you damn well know if the roles were reversed, you would be giving me the same lecture."_

_"True, but you would be in just as bad of shape as I am."_

_"Also true. But you would be right. The one who lives should really live. HOWEVER, it doesn't really matter because I really think it's going to be ok. I don't believe I will be waltzing out of here this evening, but I really believe from the bottom of my heart that it won't be any worse than it is now."_

She sighed. _"I believe that too. But I am still ridiculously nervous. I just want to hurry up and get to 4 o'clock. Don't you?"_

_"Honestly, part of me does. But there is a part of me that is perfectly happy just sitting here with you on my lap enjoying this gorgeous afternoon."_

_"Really?"_

_"Really. And it's not just that you are on my lap, which of course I always love. But I've got this clear vision of the fact that really soon people are going to suddenly expect stuff from me again. I've been floating along with no responsibilities and before you know it, it will be 'Ron, stand up,' or 'Swallow that,' or 'talk you your mum while she cries about being sorry for not being there.' I mean, honestly, it's going to be ruddy exhausting. And then I'm going to be thinking back to how great it was when it was just the two of us alone with no one wanting anything from us. This exact moment will soon be the good old days, mark my words. You'll see. It's going to be a madhouse soon enough. Let's enjoy the peace while we have it,"_ he said with a chuckle.

_"You are the most optimistic cynic I have ever known, Ron Weasley."_

_"Why, thank you,"_ he preened.

She playfully smacked his arm before tucking herself back up against his chest.

_"Can you just keep talking? It's calming me down."_

_"Yeah?"_

_"Yeah,"_ she sighed.

_"Well, alright. I'd read you Hogwarts a History, but gosh darn it I seem to have left my copy in the room."_

_"I could get it for you,"_ she warned.

_"Oh, no, thanks though,"_ he said with a teasing tone. _"How about I tell you the stories mum used to tell us growing up? Babbity Rabbity and all that?"_

_"Sounds perfect,"_ she sighed. Then she closed her eyes and listened as he told her of the magical woodland creatures his mum had entertained him with all those years ago.

They remained outside for a few hours and then returned to the room with the goal of kipping for two hours before the chaos of the day's events would take place. The fresh air had helped them, and they both managed to sleep for a while on the transfigured muggle recliner. Hermione had set an alarm to make sure they were both awake by quarter past three. Then she had a chance to straighten up and use the loo, as well as connect with Alice to be sure Ron had been catheterized so there wouldn't be any issues come 4 pm. And, just as planned, by the time everyone arrived, they were rested and ready for whatever came next.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Ron was nervous and desperately wanted to take a calming breath, but he couldn't. He was laying on his hospital bed, Hermione right next to him clutching his hand. Alice, George, Ginny, Harry and Neville were all there as well, scattered around the bed. All looked tense but hopeful.

_"Let's do this,"_ he said to Hermione. _"Waiting around being nervous isn't helping."_

_"Are you sure?"_ she asked silently. _"You can absolutely say we need to stop, you know."_

_"I know. And I'm sure. Give me a quick good luck kiss and then tell Neville and Alice to get on with it."_

_"Ok,"_ she said for his ears only. Then she leaned over and kissed him, stroked his hair and looked in his eyes. He could tell she was refusing to cry, and he appreciated it.

_"I love you, Hermione. And in a few minutes I am going to kiss you properly. Just you wait."_

She laughed at this, wiped her eyes and turned to the rest of the people gathered there. "He says to get on with it," she said.

"Well then, dear baby brother," George said in an attempt at a playful prankster tone. "I have just the tonic for you. I may have added a bit here and there to make it fun for all of us. No one here objects if we all start buzzing like bees, do they?" he added with a wink.

"Well then," Alice said in her head nurse voice. "Mr. Weasley, this will be just like your regular potions. I'll put it through the tube, and it will be in your stomach in a few moments." Then she flicked her wand to start the process as she continued to say, "I reviewed the potion with your brother, and we both agreed that this was the accurate dose for now, but we may need a few additional doses after the spell depending on your reaction. So, don't worry. Leaving the tube in should make that simple. And as soon as I see any signs you are breathing and functioning on your own I will suspend the stasis spell that is keeping all of that running artificially so you won't be fighting against yourself. And remember – don't try any magic yet. We may see some bursts of accidental magic, but don't try anything on purpose until we are sure the regular anatomical components are all functioning. Do you understand?"

_"Tell her yes. I've got it. And then tell Nev to hurry the fuck up, I'm getting more anxious the longer everyone is standing around looking at me like I am laid out at my own funeral. Get on with it, alright mate?"_

Hermione huffed aloud at his language making everyone else around the bed chuckle akwardly.

_"Well alright. Just this once_," she grouched back silently. Then she turned to the group, saying, "He said he understands. And Nev, he said, and I quote,_ 'hurry the fuck up, I'm getting more anxious the longer everyone is standing around looking at me like I am laid out at my own funeral. Get on with it, alright mate?'"_

Nev laughed. "Well, that's my cue. Alice, is the whole dose of the potion in now?"

She nodded, "Yes, Neville. You are good to go when you are ready."

Neville took the deep breath Ron had wanted to take, raised his hand, and then in clearly practiced motion cast the intricate series of spells. Ron waited for a moment, increasingly anxious that nothing was happening. But then he felt it.

Suddenly he was blinded with searing pain to his head and the back of his neck. He couldn't see or hear anything other than the screams he wanted to yell out to try and relieve the pressure in his brain. Then all of a sudden his whole body felt like it deflated, the initial acute agony was lessening and being replaced by painful, throbbing aches all over his body. Then slowly he began to take in the scene around him in small sensorial flashes. A hand clutching his arm, a flash of light, the smell of Hermione's shampoo as she leaned over him, and then he was catching small parts of different phrases.

"he grimaced!"

"is breathing on his own?"

"RON!"

"mate?"

"any pain?"

"can you move"

"I don't think he can hear us"

"give him a chance"

"I think he moved."

Then it was completely silent again, and he realized that he couldn't see anything. He knew he had been staring at Hermione when Nev cast the spell. Had he gone blind? And then all of a sudden it struck him - he must have closed his eyes. Which meant he must be able to move a part of his own body!

He focused all his energy away from the pain and the confusion to try and pour every ounce of energy he had at the task of opening up his eyelids. And before long he could see cracks of light coming through, and then they were open, and he could move his eyes, looking at each of the different people around the room. Then the vision blurred and he was worried his eyesight was failing. But before he could worry too much, Hermione was there, wiping the tears now pooling in his eyes.

"Don't cry, Ron. It worked. You're ok," she sobbed through her own tears.

_"Back at you,"_ he said silently, making her laugh.

"OK, let the man have some space," Alice commanded, moving her arms to get everyone to back up. "Now, Mr. Weasley, you can blink, right?"

He blinked in response, and the team around the bed all clapped and cheered.

"Please, everyone. Please, just calm down, and let us assess the situation," she demanded.

Properly chastised, they all fell quiet and stepped back leaving only Hermione still clinging to his hand.

"Now, Mr. Weasley-"

_"For heaven's sake can you please tell her to call me Ron before George starts answering for me?"_ Ron pleaded to Hermione.

"Uh, Alice, he has asked if you could stick to calling him Ron so there isn't any confusion with his brother."

Alice rolled her eyes, "Right, Ron. That is very considerate of you. This way George won't get confused that I am trying to clarify his ability to control his bodily functions."

George laughed out loud. "I like you Alice. It's a shame you aren't just a wee bit younger."

"Yes. That is tragic," she deadpanned, causing the rest of the group to laugh. "Now, RON, you can blink. Can you move your facial muscles at all? Smile? Open your mouth? Speak or swallow?"

Ron tried hard and was able to move his face a little bit, coming close to a smile. And he was able to open his mouth. He desperately wanted to lick his lips for moisture, but that – as well as speaking and swallowing weren't yet on the easy list.

"Excellent. Any facial movement at all is wonderful," Alice noted.

Then she worked her way through assessing the various organ systems and limbs to see what Ron was able to manage. After only about fifteen minutes, they'd discovered Ron could try to grip his hand, though controlled limb movement was still out of reach. He could take deep breaths and even yawn, which amused everyone. He wasn't able to roll over or sit up on his own, but once they helped him sit up he was able to stay that way.

After half an hour, Alice and George agreed a second dose of the potion was in order, so Alice quickly administered it through the nasal tube. This seemed to make a significant difference, and soon Ron had much more control over both his tongue and swallowing, even silently asking Hermione to see if he could sip some water. With some magical assistance he was able to swallow a small sip, and he moaned in pleasure.

_"Ohmigod, that feels so good,"_ he moaned in his head.

"I can tell," said Hermione through a giant grin. "Because you actually moaned out loud too. So wonderful to hear you again!"

He gave her his attempt at a smile, and Hermione was once again crying happy tears. After a few more sips of water he tried to move his head and was able to move it a little. And though it looked like he was royally pissed, everyone celebrated Ron achieving yet another milestone. By eight that evening, he had progressed to the point where he could also move his shoulders some, thereby shifting his arms in jerky motions. He was also able to slightly wiggle the fingers on his right hand, and his feet and knees responded to the reflex tests, though he couldn't move them yet. He still couldn't speak, but he could make some sounds that sounded similar to words.

"Well, Ronald Weasley, I can say that in my entire career I have never seen anything like I've experienced in the past few hours," Alice said. "You are continuing to progress. Your vital signs are strong, and your heart and lungs are working on their own with no magical support. Are you in a lot of pain?"

He gave his smile and shook his head no.

"I love that you can communicate on your own some again. But I need to ask some more specific questions. Can you use Hermione to answer some more detailed questions?"

He nodded in the affirmative.

"Wonderful. Right after the spell was cast you seemed to be in a lot of pain that then let up. Is there any lingering pain, or a changed sensation in the same part of your body?"

Hermione said, "Ron says, _'Initially the pain was in my head and neck, and that was brutal. But then that started to fade to more of a dull ache. Now it feels just like a mild headache._'"

"Can you describe what the pain felt like initially?" Alice asked.

Hermione said, "He says, _'it was terrible, blinding, stabbing pain. Like a crucio but where the pain isn't spread across your whole body but instead concentrated in just the space between my eyes and the upper part of the back of my neck.'_"

"Hmm. I must admit, that description wouldn't mean much to the majority of people, but I am guessing in this room I am either alone or one of only a few that doesn't know how that personally feels." At that, Alice looked around the room and saw that each person was nodding sadly, each thinking of their own time at the receiving end of that curse. "I'm glad that pain has receded some. Are there any odd sensations anywhere else that might not be painful but seem unusual?"

He nodded and Hermione spoke for him, "_'I could always feel everything, but now I have a pins-and-needles sensation that seems to move from muscle to muscle. It doesn't last long, and doesn't hurt. But it doesn't feel normal._'"

Alice nodded. "I noticed a few muscle twitches in your left thigh. Have there been others?"

"He said there have been some in his back and in his gut, but that it jumps around."

"OK," Alice said. "I think medically you seem to be doing well. But I would really like to bring in Healer Cooper as we discussed. She will be able to do a much more complete assessment. She is here at the hospital for another few hours, so if we are going to inform her tonight, I would like to go and do that now. But, that means I need to step out for a while. Are you all ok with that?"

Ron nodded, as Hermione said, "Yes. I'm sure she will be more than surprised, but we have to take this step. Just please help her understand how we need this to be strictly confidential for now."

Alice simply nodded and turned for the door, but Neville reached out to grab her arm.

"I'm coming too, Alice," Neville said.

"No, that won't be necessary," Alice protested. "It will be alright, Neville."

"Alice, everyone in this room knows what you have risked to allow us to do this confidentially. And no matter how wonderful Healer Cooper may be, there could be repercussions. I am going along to remind anyone who may have the bollocks to challenge you that you were asked by three individuals who have been awarded the Order of Merlin, Second Class, and three who were awarded Order of Merlin, First Class, and within that little group, there happen to be two aurors who requested secrecy due to the connections to ongoing investigations at the DMLE."

Alice looked up at Neville, mouth slightly agape, as if seeing him grown up for the first time. Finally she reached up to pat his cheek gently.

"When did you go from being that little boy to being...being...well, being this?" she asked with a touch of nostalgia and awe crossing her face - her eyes suddenly becoming glassy.

He bent to kiss her cheek.

"Thanks to you, Alice, that nervous little boy was loved and treated with respect and then finally able to gain some self-confidence that let me grow up to be the wizard I am. Today it is finally my turn to help take care of you for once. I love you, Alice. Come on."

She patted his cheek affectionately as she sniffed back tears, refusing to cry. With that, Neville offered his arm and led the beaming older witch out of the hospital room.

Harry jumped up as soon as they left, "Maybe I should go with them as well."

"Sit, Harry," Hermione said quickly. "You get favors most places, but around here Neville totally outranks you."

Everyone looked at his stunned face. "Oh, yeah, well, that's brilliant, isn't it?" he said, the relief of being outranked sinking in.

George let out a nervous breath and laughed, "this whole thing has to be one of the strangest experiences of my entire life, and let's face it - that is saying something."

This broke the tension, and even Ron gave something like an actual chuckle as he shook his head.

"I'm exhausted, and I haven't done a damn thing. Scoot over, Ron," Ginny stated as she plopped her bum next to her brother and rested her head on his shoulder.

Ron smiled and leaned up against his baby sister with a contented sigh. Hermione sat down on the other side of the bed, still holding Ron's hand. George and Harry both sat on the table against the wall across from the foot of the bed.

"Let's say this keeps improving at this pace for the next few hours. How do you think you want to handle tonight, Ron?"

Ron looked thoughtful for a few minutes and then looked to Hermione.

_"Any ideas, love?"_

_"I always have ideas, Ron. But this is all your call."_

_"I think this has already been a hell of a lot for one afternoon. I am going to be utterly exhausted here shortly. And I think once the healer comes in it will be an exhausting series of tests and explanations all over again."_

"Do you think they'll keep up this silent conversation thing even after he gets his voice back?" George asked.

"Probably," laughed Harry.

"It's both sweet and annoying at the same time," chimed in Ginny, eyes still closed as she leaned against Ron.

Ron smiled at all of them. _"It is fun to taunt them even if we aren't saying a damn thing."_

Hermione smirked and nodded her head. _"You want me to kick them all out?"_

_"Not yet. But after the Healer comes and does her stuff, then yeah. As soon as they are tired of watching me add new tricks, all I want is it to be just you and me and a comfy place to sleep."_

_"Ok. I'll make it happen,"_ she promised him silently. Then she grinned at Ginny and said, "Gin, if memory serves correctly, you've thought we were both sweet and annoying for years now."

"This is true," Ginny agreed, eyes still closed.

"So did you two come up with a game plan in your secret plotting time or were you discussing things that would make me vomit?" asked George.

"Couldn't it be both?" asked Hermione with a taunting grin.

"Fabulous. Just what we all wanted to hear," grumbled Ginny.

"Well, you won't have to hear it too much longer. I think once the Healer has come and we deal with that whirlwind, we're going to kick you guys out so Ron can sleep. His body's gone through a hell of a lot in the past few hours."

"I think that's smart," said Harry. "While it is certainly fun watching Ron slowly come back and gain strength, I think getting a good night's sleep would be best for all involved. If I had trouble sleeping last night, I can only imagine how rough it was for you two."

"Thanks for understanding," Hermione said earnestly.

In short order, Neville and Alice returned with Healer Cooper and Nicola the night nurse. The two newest people to the secret entered with wide, disbelieving eyes. As expected, this had been followed by a whirlwind of physical exams and assessments, diagnostic spells, questions, explanations, more questions, more assessments and more diagnostic spells. Unsurprisingly they were dumbfounded, but the Healer rallied and was able to lay out some guidance to Nicola and Alice in how to best care for Ron over the next 24 hours as he simply recovered from the shock of the curse reversal itself. They all agreed to meet again in the morning when Nicola and Alice would overlap their shifts and Healer Cooper would be able to do another assessment to see how Ron was doing after resting overnight. They agreed to monitor his vitals, promising to only enter the room if his pulse or breathing seemed to be in distress. Otherwise, all agreed that what Ron really needed was sleep and time for his body to recover.

Eventually, the three professionals made their way out of the room, promising to see him in the morning. Soon after that, Harry, Ginny, George and Neville all said their goodbyes as well, each giving Ron and Hermione tight hugs before they made their way out of the room. Hermione walked them all to the door, and then slowly closed it behind them. Turning around in the quiet room, she looked at Ron and grinned.

"Finally!"

_"Finally,"_ he agreed.

_"Part of me wants to dance with joy, but the vast majority of me wants to be asleep within the next 90 seconds."_

_"No kidding!"_

_"Do you want to sleep in what you have on or change into pajamas?"_

_"I just want to sleep in this. I'm too drained to do anything."_

_"Alright, I'm popping into the loo and then joining you. Think you can stay awake for that long?"_

_"Honestly,"_ he said sleepily, _"I'm not sure."_

_"OK, I'll be right back."_

Hermione completed her nightly routine in record time and had quickly crawled into bed and put out the lights.

_"That was fast,"_ Ron mumbled. _"Did Hermione Granger possibly skip brushing her teeth?"_

_"Of course not! I was raised by dentists, so it is basically impossible for me to skip that. But, admittedly, it was the worst brushing job I think I've ever done."_

Ron chuckled, but said nothing. Hermione helped him turn on his side, ensuring they were in their regular sleeping position. She was on her side, but still facing him when she automatically reached up to shut his eye lids when he stopped her.

_"You don't have to do that anymore,"_ he whispered silently.

_"Oh! Right, crazy what becomes automatic, isn't it."_

_"Getting to look at you, getting to move my eyes over your face, getting to wake up later and watch you sleep...these are things I will never take for granted ever again."_

_"I love you, Ron."_

_"I love you, too. Now kiss me,"_ he said.

Hermione had been moving her lips towards his when he added cheekily, _"Let's see how much I can move my tongue now."_

Hermione started laughing and pulled back to look at him, eyes sparkling with contentment. Her fingers gently roaming over his face she finally said, _"I'll never take this for granted again either. And, I want you to know - I am personally very, very committed to your tongue rehabilitation."_

She felt him move slightly with his chuckle as she captured his lips. Then there was an audible gasp from each of them. For the first time in months, they could actually kiss. He could move his lips a bit. And while his tongue wasn't completely normal, he could gently caress her lips, her mouth and her tongue. He was finally able to show her and make her feel his love in something besides silent thoughts sent to her brain. And in that moment he could feel her heart swelling, and her eyes overflowing with the swell of emotion she had kept under tight guard for so long.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm crying," she finally stammered.

_"Because you've been so fucking strong for way too long. You've fought for us, for this – and no one believed you. But you didn't give up. You came and found me, and now you can not only know that I am here, but you can finally feel it. There is finally someone else taking care of you, even if it is only in this small way. Any other human on the planet would have crumpled and given up long ago, but you...you are amazing. And so you have a solid nine months of emotions to get through. So, love, let yourself cry. I'll hold you. Well, I'll hold you the best I can. And tomorrow it will only get better."_

She nodded, burying her head into his chest and letting him physically comfort her for the first time in so long. Eventually she turned, her back to his front as they spooned up to sleep. And they were both asleep in minutes.

Ron woke with a start in the middle of the night, and for the first time in recent memory he was able to open his eyes and look down at Hermione's sleeping form. The excitement of this new independence was practically intoxicating, and he decided to take this quiet moment alone to see what else he was able to do on his own. Working methodically from his face down to his toes, he decided to see what he could move or control without assistance. He rolled his head back and forth and practiced opening and closing his jaw. He intentionally worked on swallowing, which he was pleased to note was getting easier. He was still able to shrug his shoulders, but he noticed that he now had more control over his biceps and fingers. His core had more strength as well, and while he couldn't turn over, he could roll a few inches in each direction. He was able to bend his knees slightly, and he was thrilled when he was able to not only bend his knee, but he could stretch the leg back out again as well. And, he could wiggle the toes on both feet and slightly rotate each foot at the ankle.

_"Damn,"_ he thought to himself. _"That is a lot of improvements in what is probably only about twelve hours."_

He lay awake for probably another hour, reveling in the joy of blinking his eyes, wiggling his toes, making funny faces by scrunching his nose and mouth. But at one point his exuberance with his newly recovered ability to move his leg a tiny bit must have nudged Hermione, as she startled in her sleep. He froze, not wanting to be the one to disrupt her first good night's sleep in so long. The stillness must have worked, as she soon settled again into his warm arms and her breathing returned to the rhythmic sound of her sleep. The calming sound of her breath and the contentment of having his witch in his arms eventually lulled him back to sleep.

Hermione woke several hours later to a sensation she hadn't felt in a very long time. At first she couldn't place it, but then the previous days' events came flooding back into her mind and she realized that she was feeling Ron's fingers _actually moving_ against the bare skin on her stomach where her shirt had risen up. She felt her smile explode across her face.

"What a fabulous way to wake up," she said softly, letting her fingers trail up and down one of his arms.

He hummed a sound of agreement, causing her to roll over in his arms and kiss him gently, thrilled when he opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"It's going to be another really good day," she said.

He hummed in agreement again, and she grinned before getting up to quickly get ready for the day.

_"What, no shower?"_ he asked silently.

_"Honestly, I think we both slept too late," _she lamented. _"We are supposed to meet Healer Cooper and Alice in less than half an hour."_

"Hmph," he grumbled aloud before silently adding, _"Not sure this curse reversal thing is all it is cracked up to be if there won't be time for showering."_

_"Yeah, yeah. Whine all you want. But when we can actually shag in an actual bed with each of us able to move all of our various body parts, I'll remind you that you really want to make sure we cut things short to leave time for showering since it is clearly very important to you."_

_"You, Hermione Granger, are just mean," _he pouted, proudly making his facial expression match his petulant comments.

_"Nice pout. The bottom lip is a great touch," _she teased.

_"Thanks,"_ he said with a true grin_. "I worked on it last night when I was too excited to sleep."_

_"Glad you are putting your new skills to good use,"_ she teased.

They both laughed, and she helped him up to get ready. They decided that they would stick with Hermione doing everything that day and waiting until his rehab work was more underway before he tried to tackle things like getting dressed on his own. But soon they were both ready for the day and ready to come up with a game plan to rebuild his strength and get him the hell out of St. Mungo's.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

It had been nine days. Nine jam-packed days of rehabilitative routines from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning to the second he closed them again at night. They'd been able to keep everything private, with only the small group knowing about Ron's recovery. That first morning the healer had proposed a rigorous rehab schedule. Ron literally had exercises planned every minute of the day except for eight hours of sleep at night and a two hour rest period from one to three each day for some recovery time before the afternoon exercises began. Even meal times were part of his rehab – swallowing, drinking chewing, holding utensils, cutting his meat, spreading butter on his bread – all of those requiring certain muscle movements to be successful.

But, they'd all agreed they wanted to aim for the challenging goal: leave St. Mungo's within ten days.

Ten days would be long enough to do the rehab, but it would be short enough that they had an actual shot at keeping everything a secret, ensuring no one – including the rest of the family – would know about the change in status until he was home. And it had bloody well worked. He could sit and stand up on his own. He could walk very short distances and had even managed a shower on his own, which in many ways he decided was the tragic side of the week. But, he could do it. He could piss and poop on his own like an actual toddler, and he could eat. That had been bloody brilliant. His mind and mouth wanted to eat everything he had been craving for nine months, but then his stomach protested, insisting on time to adjust to digesting actual food again.

Ron could even speak some. It took a lot of work, and his voice didn't really sound like himself, but he was able to communicate some basic things. He'd been frustrated that his voice hadn't come back as quickly as the other skills. But, the healer assured him that his voice was unique as that it wasn't simply one muscle to re-engage. She helped him learn to press on his throat some to ease the scratchiness in his voice. And the most bizarre thing was how they insisted it would be easier to sing than speak, and they were right. And while he had initially tried to whisper to avoid the weird sounds, the healer and nurses were adamant that he either speak properly, sing or write on paper, but he was not under any circumstance to whisper as it could make it worse. But now, they had made it to their last night in the hospital room.

While Ginny, Neville and George helped by being with Ron through different cycles of exercises, Hermione and Harry had been able to find a small bungalow in a London suburb. It was a muggle neighborhood, which helped them all feel like they had a shot at privacy, though with them, it was never guaranteed. It was small, but Hermione was thrilled to find a place that was only one level so that Ron wouldn't have any stairs to navigate at home. The whole place was wheel chair accessible, even the kitchen and bathroom. While Ron was able to walk now, he had limited stamina and was still using the wheel chair at times. The house wasn't large, but there was a nice master bedroom, a small office and a tiny guest room. But, Hermione's favorite part was the small walled-in garden area out back where Ron would be able to do his exercises out in the sunshine without nosy neighbors watching. The previous owner had been a retired veteran who loved gardening, so the backyard had several raised platform gardens full of gorgeous rose bushes and other rambling plants.

While Hermione didn't go crazy decorating everything, she did make sure to get some simple kitchen items and a very comfortable muggle recliner. Then Harry helped her move some basic pieces from her parents' home including their bed, a dining room table and chairs, a couch and coffee table. This also left plenty of space for the various pieces of exercise equipment Ron was using for his rehab. When everything was in place, the two of them had looked around at the new place, and Hermione slumped at the blandness of it all.

"It doesn't really look like a home yet," Hermione sighed.

"Hermione, give yourself a break. You've only had the keys for a couple days," Harry said.

"Maybe once we are home he can do his exercises while I paint the walls and add some life to it."

"Do you want me to paint the walls before he comes home?"

"Oh, you don't need to do that, Harry."

"I know, but I want to. So, Chudley Cannon orange in all the rooms?"

She punched his arm.

"Well, how about I'll just get Gin to pick."

"OK – but, make them light or cheery colors, ok? Nothing dark or dreary. Pale yellow or pale blue, or – well – just cheery, ok? We've had nothing but charcoal grey hospital walls for a long time."

"Sure," Harry grinned. "No dungeon colors."

She smiled at him.

"It'll be brilliant," Harry said.

"Hard to believe we will actually be here soon," Hermione said, the wonder evident in her eyes.

"You won't just live here," he said. "This will be your first real home together."

She smiled, the tears streaming down her cheeks as Harry hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head. She cried happy tears a bit longer, and then finally she'd flooed back to St. Mungo's, and Harry set off to find paint.

Ron looked up as the hospital room door opened, already having heard Hermione's unique footsteps coming down the hall.

"How has the afternoon gone?" she asked as she took off her jacket.

"Best rehab I've gotten to do yet," George grinned. "The assignment today was eating and playing board games. Literally. Apparently it helps with manual dexterity or pincer grip or who knows. But, I get good brother points in your eyes while I got to hang out with Ron, eat good food and get my arse kicked at chess."

Hermione grinned and glanced at the grinning ginger brothers. Then Ron stood up, slowly walked over to Hermione and kissed her.

"Well, hello to you to," Hermione said aloud as she also quickly cast the legillimency spell.

_"Missed you, but loved being able to welcome you back properly,"_ he said silently.

George watched the two of them make eyes at each other and then quickly announced, "Well, that's my cue. I think my duties here are done for now. But if anything changes and you need me to come back, just let me know."

"Thanks, George," Hermione said.

"You are most welcome."

"Thanks," Ron scratched out, reaching his hand out to his brother.

George was caught off guard as it was the first time he had heard Ron speak. He clutched Ron's hand and pulled him into an embrace, not saying anything as he gently hit Ron's back in that way grown men awkwardly attempt to show each other affection. Then without another word, George turned and left.

Ron slid his arm around Hermione's waist as she leaned into him.

_"Good day, huh?" _she asked softly.

Ron simply nodded in response.

_"Can you believe it's our last night here?"_

He smiled thoughtfully and silently said, _"Part of me can't wait to get out of here and back to the real world. But part of me will remember this little room as our first home together."_

_"I hope you'll like our new home,"_ she offered.

_"I know I will, Hermione. You managed to make this sterile room a comfortable home with books and a couch and that amazing muggle chair. I am sure whatever you arranged will be more than wonderful."_

_"Well, either way you'll see tomorrow."_

_"Yes I will."_

_"So, is it just the two of us for dinner?"_

_"No, actually. I asked Neville and Alice to join us for dinner. I hope that's ok?"_

_"That's brilliant,"_ Hermione grinned_. "I'll just enlarge the table for us. Should I ask Essie for help with the food?"_

_"No, Neville is bringing the take away."_

_"Thanks. A really perfect plan for the evening."_

He kissed her cheek, and then they prepared for their guests to arrive.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The last night had been delightful, and they'd all enjoyed the meal and the company late into the evening. After Neville and Alice had left, Ron had been exhausted and had to lay down while Hermione packed up everything else in the room except what they would need in the morning. Naturally, she boxed and labeled everything before shrinking it down and packing everything up into her beaded bag. Then she finally crawled into bed, now loving how Ron could snuggle up to her on his own.

_"The room looks so barren,"_ Ron observed. _"I guess I had forgotten how bleak this place was before you turned it into our home."_

_"Yeah, me too,"_ she said.

_"It really was our first home together, I suppose. I should say all kinds of thank you's and tell you how amazing you are, but-"_

_"But we're both too tired?"_

_"Yeah,"_ he said as his eyes closed.

_"Yeah,"_ she agreed as she, too, quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Looking back, Ron could only describe that last morning as surreal. They'd had a quick breakfast before meeting with Healer Cooper and Alice to demonstrate how far he'd come in his rehabilitation as well as review the potion regimen they wanted him to follow. Finally they reiterated the importance of holding off on using any magic for several more weeks, and he nodded in resigned agreement. While he desperately wanted to use it, he knew how exhausted he was without it, and he could only imagine how draining those first few days of using magic would feel.

Their sneaky exit from St. Mungo's had been well orchestrated. Alice and Healer Cooper agreed to keep up the ruse that he was still a patient so that word wouldn't leak out that he'd been discharged until they were ready for the story to hit the press. Since he was still unable to floo or travel by side-along apperation, let alone apperate himself, it had been decided that the best plan was to travel by automobile. And, since all agreed that the Knight Bus was not really an option, it would need to be by muggle car. But then Harry, Ron and George fell into a debate – with Ron rapidly writing everything down – about how they could manage to get a muggle taxi car to pick him up at what would appear to be a vacant storefront.

But, Hermione gleefully interrupted them, "um, boys? How about I just drive us home?"

Simultaneously, all three boys gawked out their responses.

_"You know how to drive?"_ Ron asked silently.

"When did you get a muggle driver's license?" Harry wondered.

"Where are you going to get a muggle car? We never got Dad's back after these two crashed it," George gaped.

With a knowing smile she said, "Well, yes, Ron, I do know how to drive. Harry, I got my license right before Bill and Fleur's wedding. And, George, I'll drive Mum and Dad's car. It's still in their garage at their house. It will be perfect, really. I'll apperate from here and then no one will see me leave. We can use some charms on Ron to change his appearance, and then maybe he and Neville just walk out the front door in the morning. No one would ever think it was him, as for all anyone else knows he is unable to even breathe on his own, let alone walk."

"She really is the most brilliant witch of her age, this one," muttered George, shaking his head in both awe and disbelief.

Hermione had simply smiled and returned to whatever she had been working on.

The sneaky plan had worked. Hermione had disapperated straight from the room. She'd had everything in her beaded bag and promised to be outside the front door to pick him up at the arranged time. Ron and Neville had hung out in the room for a while until it came time to disguise Ron with charms and stroll out the front door and into the waiting car. Nev helped Ron into the front seat. Hermione talked Neville through helping Ron with the muggle seatbelt and grinned as the two worked out the mechanism. Once settled, Neville shut the car door and waved them off, promising to catch up later. And that was that.

Suddenly it was just the two of them. Together. Outside of St. Mungo's.

Hermione grinned at him, put the car in gear and pulled out into traffic. Ron, unable to even speak silently due to the emotional onslaught, simply reached for her hand, pulled it to his lips and kissed it. They were both blinking back tears, but neither would let them fall. They were simply too happy. From there they just rode in silence for the rest of the drive, smiles plastered firmly on each of their faces.

Thirty minutes later they walked hand-in-hand into their new home. Both were blown away by what they found there.

_"This is incredible,"_ Ron said silently.

"Well, yeah, it is. And I didn't do it. Looks like Harry and Ginny must have gone a little crazy."

_"This home is perfect, Hermione," he said silently as he leaned to kiss her._

"Here, let me show you around. This is the living room, obviously."

_"I love it. There's the lounge-around-in-the-awesome-muggle-chair-and-listen-to-quidditch side and the rehab exercise side,"_ he laughed.

"Well, I can't really take credit. I mean, that was the idea, but other than the recliner and couch, the rest must have been Harry and Gin. Look, he even has a wireless here next to the recliner. And a comfy chair over there so I can keep you company while you do your exercises."

_"Or where you can curl up and read,"_ he grinned.

"Well, yeah, that too," she admitted with a blush. "Then over here is the dining room and then the kitchen. Nothing fancy, but it's bright and airy, which I like. Then there is a loo here as well as one in our bedroom. And here are the two small bedrooms. I figure we'll use one as an office or library and the other if we actual have guests."

_"The colors are great."_

"Thank your sister. I am rather confident she picked them."

Ron was the first to step into the bedroom and started laughing immediately.

"What's so funny?" Hermione asked, coming from down the hall.

_"Pretty sure Gin decorated this room too."_

"Wha?" Hermione started to ask as she stepped into the room. Then after quickly taking it in, she erupted in laughter as well.

The walls were painted a calming, pale sage green, and the linens were a rich navy color. Which perfectly matched the blue of the giant Hollyhead Harpies painting above the bed, which was balanced by a giant portrait of Professor Lockhart at the end of the bed.

They both ended up doubled over in laughter on their new bed, where they also found a card from Harry and Ginny.

"Welcome Home! If for some reason you aren't in love with the artistic selections, the charm on the back of the card will change the two pictures in here to another option. Not that it's our preference, but it's your room. Love, Gin & Harry"

They performed the charm and then found the pictures transformed into two lovely paintings they both loved. One was a country side scene of rolling green fields dotted with cows and sheep. The second was a painting that was set inside the library at Hogwarts, rows of books taunting Hermione with their knowledge. But the scene showed the sunlight pooling through the tall windows that peered out onto the quidditch pitch in the distance with both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw banners blowing in the breeze. Hermione actually gasped looking at the two paintings, then leaned in to examine the artist's signature.

"Ron!" she exclaimed, "these were painted by Dean!"

His eye widened as he leaned in to see for himself. Then he realized, _"Hermione, they were painted for us. That's the view looking west from that large hill just beyond the quidditch pitch at The Burrow. And look – is that you in the library?"_

She leaned in as well, blown away to realize Ron was right.

"Wow," was all she could say as she took in the amazing personal details in Dean's artwork.

Ron was exhausted, and eased himself onto the bed, letting his eyes close before his head even hit the pillow.

_"It's all a bit overwhelming,"_ he said.

"Yeah. I know, and I'd been here before."

_"I worry I overdid it this morning," _he sighed silently as he winced trying to sit up on the bed.

"Not sure there was any other way to do it," Hermione said as she curled up around him. "And since we'll need to have energy to talk with Harry, George and Ginny here in a I think you should rest now while you can."

_"The idea of standing up and walking down the hallway does feel like an insurmountable task_," he admitted.

"Ron, being home doesn't magically give you stamina all of a sudden. We have a wheel chair, and I hope you will use it for as long as you need it. The previous owner of this home was in a wheel chair as well, so the house is all wood floors and all of the rooms are accessible by chair, including the backyard."

He said nothing, but reached his arm out to pull her body tighter against his own, kissing her head and rubbing his hand along her arm. And then he was asleep. When Ron woke up several hours later, he found that Hermione was no longer in the bed, and the sheets were cool to the touch, indicating she had been absent for some time. He heard some voices coming from down the hall and realized Harry, George and Ginny must have arrived while he was asleep. After finding the loo and freshening up a bit, he slowly walked down the hall and joined everyone in the living room.

"Hey, there's the wizard of the hour," smiled George. "It is damn good to see you outside that place."

Ron nodded in agreement and eased himself into the recliner, giving a warm smile to each of them. Ginny handed him the now-omnipresent muggle notepad and pen so he could jot down what he wanted to say.

"We were just discussing phase two of the 'Bring Ron Back to the Real World' plan," announced Ginny. "Now that you have been officially sprung from the clutches of St. Mungo's, the next phase is possibly harder, since we need to figure out how and when to break the news to the rest of the family and then deal with all of the aftermath."

Ron sighed. Hermione closed her eyes, and Harry grimaced.

"Oh come on, it's not all that tragic," protested George. "Let's just cut to the chase, shall we? We need to make sure they find out before the Prophet does. And since you can't floo or apperate in any way, the Knight Bus is out, and the drive in the Hermione Muggle Cab Company car would be far too long since it, sadly, is not a flying car, there aren't a lot of ways to get to The Burrow from here. So, there are only a couple of realistic options. One, the three of us tell the family either individually or one at a time, we count to three and then Mum will walk through that floo," he said, gesturing at the fireplace. "Or, two, we figure out some sneaky way to get the whole family here, then tell them, and then have Ronniekins here pop out of a cake like one of those muggle strippers."

Ron frowned and kicked his brother while Ginny snickered.

"OK. Realistically, I think it is better to tell them all at once so no one feels like they were the last to know," Harry said.

Ron nodded in agreement.

"I guess the first question is whether you want to be the one to explain everything or do you want to us to do that?" Hermione asked.

Before Hermione could answer, Ron had pointed at Harry and then wrote _"Them"_ on his notepad.

"OK. One question answered," George pronounced. "I think we could get Charlie here for Sunday's mandatory showing at dinner. What if the three of us drop the bomb at dinner? Then one of us will floo over and give you a heads up how everyone handled it, and then maybe half an hour later the other two we'll bring the whole clan right on through."

Ron glanced at Hermione and saw her eyes squeezed tightly, jaw clenched and tension visible on her face as she attempted to massage her eyes. Instead of asking her to speak for him, he wrote on his notepad again and handed it to George.

_"I'll be fine. But this is brutal on her. She was basically abandoned by the people she had seen as family. I don't expect her to forgive everyone anytime soon – if ever. She was really hurt. If Mum and Dad aren't falling over themselves apologizing, then I don't know that we need to have them here at all. If that's the case, then maybe we need to arrange to meet at Grimmauld or something. We can drive there from here much easier than to Devon. I just don't want this to be any harder on her than it has to be."_

George grimaced but nodded in agreement. He glanced at Hermione, relieved to see she had her eyes shut tightly and was massaging her forehead with the tips of her fingers. He then nodded at Ron indicating her understood.

"You know what," George offered aloud. "I think there's a better idea. Why don't we tell Charlie to show up Sunday at The Burrow. Gin, Harry 'n me will go and talk to everyone at dinner. But then we won't let everyone immediately descend on these two. And, since they don't know where you live they can't just show up. Instead, we'll get a sense of everyone's reactions, give people a chance to process things, and then come back and give Ron and Hermione the lay of the land. We won't make any decisions about how to proceed from there until later."

Hermione's eyes opened, and the tension melted from her forehead.

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"Really," George said confidently. Glancing to Ron briefly he continued, "None of us have treated you two the way we should have been treating people we loved. And I hope you know we DO love both of you very much despite how terribly we showed it. So, to be fair, we shouldn't expect you two to suddenly be forced to host the entire clan of us tossers who treated you so poorly. We'll play it by ear."

"Mum will kill us, you know?" Ginny said.

"Yeah. Well, that's while we'll have Harry tell her. She likes him better," he joked.

"Ha ha," said Harry as he rolled his eyes.

"But seriously, they won't stand for it," Ginny argued.

"Well, they'll have to," George said. "They can send owls expressing love or outrage. And then these two will decide what they want to do next."

_"Thanks,"_ Ron wrote on his notepad. _"Tell everyone I love them, but after all H has done for me, taking care of her is my first priority now."_

George patted Ron's back and nodded his head in understanding. "It's the right thing," George said softly to his little brother. "I just hadn't thought clearly enough about it to see it myself."

Ron smiled and touched his heart.

"And, well, you both, well, I can only say I'm sorry so many times. But know that we are here to help. And anything you need, just let us know, ok?" George said.

"We know. And we love you, George – all of you. It's just, well, it's been a hell of a few years, you know?"

Ginny laughed, "An understatement if I ever heard one. But, yeah. George is right. For now, anyway. We'll drop the bomb and let you know how everyone reacts. We won't let them know where you are, but don't be shocked if an army of owls and a patronus or two show up Sunday evening."

"Thanks. This means a lot," Hermione said. "I didn't realize how much I was dreading dealing with everyone here on Sunday until you just made the problem go away," she admitted.

Ron wrote out, _"Did Hermione tell you how much we loved the decoration? Especially those paintings Dean did. They're bloody brilliant."_

"Yeah," Harry smiled. "He's gotten really good, hasn't he?"

Ron nodded.

_"They were the two most perfect spots, too. I don't know how to thank you," _Ron scrawled on his notepad.

"No need. We were happy to make it happen. You guys deserve it, and we loved the chance to support Dean as well," said Harry.

"What?!" said Ginny in mock horror. "You didn't keep the Hollyhead or Lockhart pictures? I swear! Some people just have the most horrid taste."

They all laughed, and then they settled into a more relaxed afternoon. Eventually George announced he had to get back to the shop and took off. Ginny found a quidditch match on the wireless and then she and Harry helped Ron through the afternoon's rehab exercises while they all enjoyed listening to the game. Hermione took advantage of the time to get more settled, unpacking from the hospital, setting up the kitchen to her liking and making sure the pantry was stocked with their favorite foods. Harry and Gin ended up staying for dinner, and only left once Harry pointed out to Gin that both Hermione and Ron were clearly yawning and trying to stay awake.

"Yeah, yeah – I can take a hint," Ginny teased. "We'll clean these dishes quickly and get out of your hair. But we'll both pop 'round tomorrow to check on you. Just don't be shy about telling us when you need some time alone, ok?"

"Ok," Hermione said. "We promise."

Less than an hour later, Ron and Hermione were snuggling into their covers for their first night in their new home.

_"You know,"_ Ron said silently. _"I had all kinds of daydreams about what I would want to do to you on our first night home."_

"But we're still too exhausted, aren't we?"

_"Yup,"_ he said. _"So, please don't take my lack of moves personally. It's just I can barely keep my eyes open."_

"Not offended. Even if you were putting on those Weasley moves I can't resist, I really am utterly exhausted."

_"Good."_

"But, know I love you anyway."

_"I love you too."_


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Sunday evening found Hermione and Ron having a quiet dinner together in their home. They were enjoying some soup and fresh bread, both desperately trying to not think about the dinner currently happening at The Burrow.

Finally Hermione just put her napkin down and said, "I give up. I can't even pretend I am not totally distracted thinking about how it's going."

_"Me either_," Ron agreed silently. _"Part of me feels so bad for them – they are learning the son they thought was dead isn't, but since they treated him as he was, he isn't ready to welcome them all to his home with open arms. But on the other hand, there's a part that feels like an awkward dinner and a few days of guilt and angst is more than a fair trade off. Is that terrible?"_

"I hope not. Because I am having very similar thoughts."

_"And then I feel bad because I've made my own horrible decisions in the past, and I have received forgiveness and grace from you and Harry for those bad decisions, so why is there this vengeful part of me that wants them to squirm a little bit?"_

"That doesn't make you a bad person, Ron. I mean, I was more than angry with you when you came back with that sword and destroyed horcrux. I certainly wanted to make you feel some angst or pain or whatever. At the time it felt childish. But, as I had time and space to think more about it, I think I was just so hurt that I didn't have any other way to make you understand my pain other than trying to make you feel pain too. I think it's just a normal human reaction to want to make our feelings understood. But it passes. I loved you. I wanted you back in my life. And I love your family. And I want them back in my life. But if a night of feeling horribly guilty helps them understand how hurt I have been by how they treated me, then, well – I guess that's what it takes. I will absolutely forgive them. But I am not feeling the need to make it painless."

_"That's a good way to look at it. And I'm glad you are confident you will forgive them. I wasn't sure where you were on that."_

"Your family has been so amazing to me over the past decade. I can't imagine my life – our lives, or our future without them in it. They are incredible people, and I want them as an intricate part of my life. But, I also want them to realize their mistake and seek forgiveness."

_"I really think they will."_

"I think they will too. Or at least I hope so."

At that they both suddenly turned when they heard a knock at the front door.

_"You don't think they brought them after all?"_ asked Hermione, color draining from her face.

But then the familiar stag patronus entered the room announcing, "It's just me. Didn't want to use owls and let the letters fall into the wrong hands, so I brought them myself. Let me in?"

Hermione sagged in relief.

_"Well, here we go,"_ said Ron as he slowly stood to let in their best friend.

Harry smiled and stepped through as soon as Ron opened the door.

"So wonderful to see you up and about like that, Ron. Makes me smile every time I see it."

Ron smiled in return and gestured him towards the table where Hermione was sitting.

"How'd it go?" she asked anxiously. "Do you want soup? Wait, no, you already had Sunday dinner, well, tea then? Just, well, just sit and tell us what happened, ok?"

"It went well," he said, helping his friends relax. "I don't need anything, just sit. I'll tell you all about it."

Hermione nodded and reached out for Ron's hand as Harry started to talk about the night.

"Well, it was a bit of a classic scene, really. We'd all agreed I would bring it up, but my darling Ginny - in her true fashion - ended up belting out 'Oi, turns out Hermione's been right all along and Ron is back. And if everyone will sit down and shut it, Harry will tell you all about it.' Ron, I love her, but she is anything but subtle."

Ron started laughing, but Hermione rolled her eyes and gestured him to continue.

"Anyway, as you can imagine, the kitchen erupted into a bit of chaos at that point. Ginny sat and started eating as if nothing had happened, George was laughing at the whole scene, your mum's mouth hung open like a fish as she clutched her chest, Bill and Percy both looked bewildered. Charlie had unfortunately been wolfing down your mum's shepherd's pie with the gusto you'd expect of a dragon tamer and was so startled that he began choking. But, Fleur handled that with some quick flicks of her wand and a solid whack to his back, which in itself was entertaining since the size difference between those two is something to behold. And then she muttered in French something about the bad table manners of the British. But, I thought the best reaction was your dad who simply sat with a small half smile and nodded his head as if he'd expected it all along. I even thought I saw him silently say 'I knew it.'"

"Huh," mused Hermione. "That is interesting."

"Yeah, I thought so too. Anyway, the general chaos persisted for a few minutes with folks yelling back and forth to hush and just making it worse. But then your Dad stood and gestured to stop, and everything did. He said, 'Harry, please, do continue,' and sat back down as if he was in a regular meeting at work. Which only served to make Percy look even more bewildered. Anyway, I explained that Hermione had become increasingly convinced that Ron was there based on the reaction of his eyes to different stimuli – uh, I left out the exact nature of that discovery and may have led them to believe it was things like light, scary stories and other things that would make your eyes dilate."

"Thanks for that," she chuckled.

"Yeah, sure, uh, anyway, then I explained about how you had asked me to come and let you run errands. And then after several weeks of that you announced that you now knew Ron was there and you'd 'picked up' legillimency in a few weeks, which none of them could fathom either, by the way. But then told how you proved it to me by kicking my arse in chess. I talked them through the whole memory thing and bringing in Nev, and then George and Gin to handle the last bit. And then told them how you'd been working so hard at rehab and that you had finally left St. Mungo's, but that you managed to keep it all secret so the story wouldn't hit the papers. As we expected, your mum immediately stood and made a dash for the floo demanding to see her baby boy. The second part of the conversation was tougher, and each of us in that room had to account for how we had behaved through all of this. But, after some challenging moments, everyone understood why there needed to be some amends made before the reunions could happen. So, as we'd discussed, everyone wrote letters to be delivered, which I have here," he said as he raised the picnic basket he'd brought. "And, naturally, as it was your mum, there is also enough food in this basket to feed a small army."

Ron's eyes grew large and he grinned.

Harry laughed and continued, "So, that's it, really. There are a stack of letters for each of you. And, the ball is in your court now. You can take as much time as you need. And if and when you are ready to see people, we will make it happen."

Hermione smiled and seemed to relax more than she had in months.

"Do you want me to take off so you can read them?" Harry asked nervously.

Ron shook his head no and reached for his notepad.

_"We need to talk about the other issue. We can't have word about me being better get out to the press before we figure out how to find Hermione's parents and bring them back safely."_

Hermione read it and smiled, a tear visible in her eyes as she nodded her thanks.

"Actually," Harry said akwardly. "There have been some developments on that end as well. I was hoping to wait until all of the loose ends were tied up before telling you, but this seems as good as time as any, I suppose."

"Harry?" Hermione said in her threatening tone. "What's happened?"

"No, no – it's good – I promise," he said, his hands held up in surrender. "As you know, after what we heard in the memory about Draco, we wondered if he knew where they actually were. So, long story short – we were able to connect with him to learn more. Turns out, the couple you saw in Australia was not your parents. Draco had been assigned to find them, which he did. He told the Death Eaters that their memories were so jumbled that they wouldn't be able to act normally to fool the two of you. He claims he thought that would protect you, but apparently others in the group made polyjuice from hair they'd collected from your parents' home during the way and had stand in's for the day they captured you. They'd imperiused several Australian aurors to pass along the false information, and that's how they had you set up. But, behind the scenes, Draco had actually taken care of them. Through a network of contacts, he was able to have them connected to individuals in Western Australia who recruited them to work with a group focused on Remote Area Dental Services. Basically, your parents are with teams of other dentists and dental hygienists and they fly into different aboriginal communities and set up dental clinics for communities that are so rural that they don't have regular access to oral health care."

"Wow," Hermione said, clearly stunned.

Ron moved to put his arm around her and pulled her to his chest.

"Once we knew where they were, well, Neville and I went to see them ourselves."

"WHAT? You've seen them? When? How are they?"

"Hang on, slow down, I'm getting there. Yes, we went while George was working on the potion and you two were engulfed in the rehab marathon. And, they were great. They looked healthy and happy. And, well, don't get mad, but I reversed the spell."

"WHAT?!" Hermione screamed.

Ron's eyes were wide with shock as well, and he had to hold Hermione tight to keep her from practically attacking Harry.

"I did. They are ok. I explained everything. They were initially not at all happy with what you did, but Neville and I both helped them see the larger picture. And, having taken photographs of the damage that was done to their home during the war, they saw that they would not have been safe. And, learning about what was done to you two, and how they had leveraged your love for them to get at you both, well - they understand now that you really did what you did to keep them safe because you love them."

"Where are they? Are they ok?" Hermione started as she then dissolved into tears.

Ron held her against is chest and gave Harry a pleading look to continue explaining.

"Hey, Hermione, it's ok. They are really ok. They are still in Australia. Neville and I offered to bring them back and put them in a safe house, but they said they love what they are doing. And, since they were safe out there, they wanted to stay where they could do good instead of going into hiding. So, the "Wilkins" are still working in Western Australia. When we saw them, we didn't know how Ron would do with the potion and spell reversal, and they said they didn't want to be a distraction in such a stressful time. They wrote letters as well, and I now that you know about them, I'll add those to your other pile of letters to go through. But, if you want to go see them we can go anytime you want. They also have cell phone numbers which I jotted down on the letters, so you can call anytime. I know they are worried about you, but they understand why you need to be with Ron until he is strong enough to travel as well."

Hermione was sobbing at this point – relief, anger at Harry for not telling her, exhaustion and being emotionally overwhelmed had finally caught up with her. Ron tried to comfort her, but her tears weren't subsiding. Eventually, Ron scribbled on the pad for Harry to help him get her up. Harry took Hermione briefly while Ron moved to the recliner, and then Harry settled Hermione back on his chest. They both tried to comfort her, but deep inside they knew it was more the emotional final straw than anything else. Even after the Battle of Hogwarts, the war had never really ended for her since her parents weren't home. And then when they'd tried to get to them the unthinkable happened and she had been in an even more difficult situation. And now, finally, it was over. Her family – Ron, Harry and her parents – were all safe. And, her parents not only remembered her, but they forgave her. It was finally over.

After a while, Hermione had cried herself to sleep on Ron's lap.

Harry looked at his friend and smiled. "Do you want me to head out? Or stay and keep you company."

Harry went to hand Ron his notepad, but Ron managed to say, "stay" in a croaking voice.

"Brilliant. Chess than?"

And so, with Hermione asleep on his lap, Ron proceeded to trounce Harry in chess several times before Harry finally gave up and called it a night. He offered to take Hermione back to the bedroom for Ron, but Ron shook his head no.

"We're good," he said, voice cracking painfully, but the peaceful expression on his face let Harry know he meant it. So, with that, Harry placed the basket of letters and food within Ron's reach on the side table, and then he left, locking the door behind him as he went.

Ron sat quietly for some time, just stroking Hermione's hair. He was so grateful to be there. So grateful to have her. So grateful for being able to comfort her, to help her in any way. And he was so grateful for the gift of such an amazing witch in his life. He loved her so much, and he knew she loved him. And in that moment he could finally allow himself to truly hope for a future life together.

With that thought he sighed a happy smile, and reached for the stack of letters, choosing to start with the one written in his father's messy scrawl.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24 _(The last chapter...)_

It had been a month since they had reversed the spell. Ron had continued to work diligently at his rehab, spending ten to twelve hours a day working on some aspect of his recovery. While he was no longer improving at the rapid pace he had enjoyed the first few weeks, he was remarkably better compared to where he had been only five weeks prior. There were still some things that were out of reach, but his physical strength and stamina were much better. He could be up and about for stretches of nearly four hours at a time without getting too worn out. But, his body still needed to rest, and often sleep, midday to regain some strength. He'd actually been cleared to do anything his body felt strong enough to handle, and that had been something he and Hermione had quickly embraced in the bedroom. While they both wanted to explore that even more, there was still a limited reserve of energy, and they both knew he had to keep pushing on his recovery – however painful the sacrifice.

In addition building overall strength and stamina, he spent almost half of each day building back his fine motor skills. He had initially scoffed at the different therapy supplies the hospital had sent for him to work on. He insisted it looked like a nursery school with boards of buttons, buckles, shoestrings, switches and placing different shaped blocks into various shaped holes. But then he tried to do them and was quickly humbled, realizing just how far he still had to go to get back to the ability to do things he used to take for granted. There had been a lot of grumbling about how he wouldn't have to bother if they'd just let him use magic, but even Ron knew that wasn't really true. And so, he diligently worked at re-learning the skills of buttoning his shirts, zipping his trousers, tying his laces, chopping vegetables, using scissors, and his personal favorite – throwing and catching a quaffle.

Unfortunately tossing the quaffle around couldn't yet be on a broom as the healers insisted on at least another month before he tried to use his magic again. And, they warned, that even that would have to start slowly. So, he had set a personal goal of wanting to be back up on a broom by his birthday in three months. He had tried to convince Hermione to re-learn the skill with him and give flying another chance, but he had yet to win that argument.

The only other remaining barrier was his voice. He could speak some, and it was improving, but it was painful and didn't sound at all like Ron when he did. Ron thought that many of the exercises that he was working on to build his vocal capacity back were absolutely barmy. Hermione had tried to explain the logic of all of them, but he still didn't quite understand the point of singing sounds or pushing against a wall. But, barmy or not, they did seem to be helping somehow. Just not nearly fast enough for his liking. But any time he would get frustrated, Hermione would remind him that less than three months ago she hadn't even been able to communicate with him in any way, and that would shut him up and refocus his attitude on his rehab.

Ron's attitude most of the time was optimistic. Occasionally he would get frustrated by what he was still unable to do, but most of the time he was able to focus on the positive and stay focused on what he had instead of what he didn't.

And, one of the things he was most grateful for was the healing strides he and Hermione had made in the relationship with his family. When Ron and Hermione had been able to go through the large stack of letters from everyone, they each had been in tears. Each individual had been so contrite and so grateful that Hermione had refused to believe what the experts had said. The apologies from his mum had been the most meaningful, as she had stepped up and apologized not only for this experience, but for not believing her all those years ago when the press painted Hermione to be in a relationship with Harry. Hermione had been so touched that Molly was truly making amends for all of the past hurts, and the two of them were now closer than ever.

Despite the renewed relationships, Ron and Hermione had asked that visitors be limited to a small handful each day, if for nothing else to not overwhelm them and to allow Ron to stay focused on his therapy. And, as his voice was still struggling, he still relied on Hermione to speak for him most of the time, and trying to manage that with a large group of people all wanting to talk with Ron at once would be overwhelming.

So, his mum had promptly arranged a schedule of dinners where she would cook the meal and send it with the designated people for the evening. Unsurprisingly, his parents had been the first evening, and Hermione had asked George to come as well to help smooth out any awkward moments. It had been stilted at first, but they soon had gotten past the apologies and hugs and settled into a comfortable dinner peppered with amusing anecdotes from George. At one point, Hermione had managed to corner Arthur alone in the kitchen for a while where she finally asked the question that had been on her mind since Harry described his initial reaction to the news.

"Mr. Weasley, may I ask you a question?"

"Only if you call me Arthur, dear," he said with a wink.

"Oh, alright," she blushed. "But, please be patient with me while I adjust. Old habits are hard to break."

"Oh, don't I know it."

"Anyway, _Arthur_, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Well, it seems to me, and I could be wrong here, but from everyone's reactions to everything, you seem the least surprised. And, so I was wondering if perhaps you had suspected Ron was in there all along?"

Arthur Weasley smiled thoughtfully and put down the bowl he had been holding. "Well, Hermione, I suppose there isn't an easy answer to that question. The straightforward answer is 'no,' I didn't really know he was alive and trapped in his own body. Hoped, maybe, but certainly didn't know. But, while you refused to believe what the experts told us about Ron, well, I guess I took a different approach."

"How so?"

"I guess you could say I refused to believe that there could be a problem you couldn't solve."

"Pardon?"

"Hermione," he said as he walked over to stand in front of her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "They don't call you the brightest witch of your age as a cute nickname. You are a brilliant witch, but it isn't because you know more facts than anyone else. Albus, Minerva, Severus, they all knew more magic than you, and especially more about dark magic. But, you were the one who figured out that there was a basilisk loose in the school. It wasn't because you knew more, it was because you think differently. You are brilliant not because of the knowledge you have but because of how you look at problems. You somehow see the pieces all fit together in ways that others cannot. It proved to be the same when you were hunting horcruxes. You didn't know more information than others, but you saw how the patterns emerged in such a way that you were able to get Harry to the solution."

"That wasn't just me-"

"Oh, I know," he interrupted. "Ron and Harry each had particular skills Albus knew would be needed for that mission to be successful. But you, my dear, you were the one who he knew could look at an unsolveable problem, step back, look at it differently and find another way to look at it. And, I refused to believe that this problem was any different. I haven't seen you put your mind to a problem that you didn't figure out."

"Well, no one is always right-"

"Again," he interrupted. "I am certainly not saying anyone is always right. But, when you are fully focused on something, you always figure something out. And, while I may be a stodgy old wizard, I know true love when I see it, Hermione. And that is something you and my son have. It is a rare gift, one most people never get to experience. But knowing the love you have for Ron and your ability to solve impossible problems, I refused to believe you wouldn't bring him back to us one way or another."

She stared at him, slightly dumfounded.

"But – why did, how come you never..."

"As I said in my letter, Hermione, I am not without sin here. I treated you poorly. I saw how upset Molly was after every visit to see him, and selfishly I worried that between the grief over Fred's death and then Ron that she would not recover and I would lose her as well. So, when she suggested fewer visits, I didn't fight her on it. That doesn't mean I shouldn't have come myself – popped over from work and such as Harry did. I am surprised at how quickly you did it. But, never for a second did I think you wouldn't figure it out."

Hermione looked at him, clearly at a loss for words. So, Arthur simply hugged her and kissed her cheek. Then in classic Arthur Weasley fashion he promptly change the conversation altogether.

"Do we have any whipped cream to go with that treacle tart Molly made?"

And with that, the subject had been closed.

Other dinners had been less dramatic, with fun tales from the dragon reserve the night Charlie and Percy came, and talk of baby clothes when Bill and Fleur came for dinner. But, today would be different.

Today was Christmas Day, and they had convinced the healers to clear him to finally use the floo network again. And, so they would all be gathering at The Burrow for dinner. It was the first time everyone would be together since Fred's funeral. But it would also be a party, and Molly had invited Neville and Hannah, Alice, Luna, Hagrid, Professor McGonagall and several other friends from school. And, Ron knew there were to be other surprise guests as well. Suddenly, a flustered Hermione emerged from the loo interrupting Ron's thoughts.

"I don't know why I even bother," she huffed as she shoved a curl behind her ear. "I can spend an hour on it and yet my hair looks the exact same."

_"But I love your hair the way it is right now,"_ he said silently.

"I can't imagine why," she protested.

_"Because most people see you as prim and proper and totally controlled, but I know this whole passionate, wild and creative side of you that they don't see. And your hair reminds me of that. It has a mind of its own. Well, that, and not to mention it looks damn sexy all spread out on a pillow beneath me." _

She playfully smacked his arm. "Oh, stop. Anyway, we need to get going. Did you get all the presents put into the bag for us to take?"

_"Yes, all presents are present and accounted for_," he smirked.

"Ha, ha," she said with an eye roll.

_"Are you ready for all of this?"_

"Yes," she said earnestly. "You know, for a long time I couldn't ever imagine me getting there, but I really am. I love your family, and we've all come a long way in a short time. And, holidays are about celebrating families – and a few awkward moments are always a part of that, aren't they?"

_"Oh yes, absolutely. That's what gives us all the gossip to talk about with the rest of the family."_

"Precisely!" she laughed. "I just wish my parents were going to be able to be there. I haven't seen them in so long, but I understand with their clinic schedule they just weren't going to be able to get here in time. But, it will be so good to see them next week. I have missed them so much."

_"I know you have, love. And it will be amazing to finally see them in your arms."_

She smiled and leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

"Well, I suppose this is as good as it gets, so let's go to The Burrow and get you another maroon jumper!"

He laughed and followed her into their living room.

_"Right. Of course, now that I've finally come to appreciate them she'll probably change and do it in green or something."_

"Oh, I wouldn't count on it."

_"I know. And I'm not. But it will be good to get back to some traditions, you know?"_

She nodded and turned to see Ron grab the bag of presents. "Are you really ready to floo? Any concerns at all?"

_"No. None. I have enough voice to say those words."_

"OK. But you go first so I'll know if something doesn't work right."

_"Fair enough,"_ he nodded.

Then he stepped into the floo holding the bag of presents, threw down the floo powder and without another thought said, "The Burrow," in his croaking voice. And off he went.

Hermione sighed in relief and then did the same.

Soon they were both engulfed in a room of embraces, Christmas crowns and mouth-watering smells. Ron managed to just smile and use facial expressions to greet most everyone, and soon they had settled into a Weasley Christmas. Molly declared they were to open presents before supper, and so they crammed everyone into the bursting sitting room. Several presents were exchanged, and Hermione was in tears when she received her first Weasley jumper with an 'H' on it.

"Should have done that years ago," Molly tutted. "But this year has been about starting fresh in many ways."

Hermione hugged her warmly and quickly put on her jumper.

"Oh, wait," George said. "Where is that other present that had Hermione's name on it? Harry did you leave it upstairs?"

"Oh, yes," Harry said. "Thanks, George. I'll pop up there now and bring it down."

Hermione looked at Ron and shrugged. But when she turned back towards the stairs, she was stunned. There on the stairs were her parents, grinning at her with open arms. As soon as the shock wore off, she bolted towards them and captured them in a fierce embrace.

"I'm so sorry," she cried. "And I love you so much!"

"Oh, we love you too, Hermione. We're so glad you are ok."

The other family members tried to allow them a private moment, but then again, there is only so much privacy anyone can expect to have at The Burrow. Ron walked up behind her smiling and shook her father's hand.

"Ron, can you believe it?" she gawked.

"Oh, Hermione, who do you think got us here?" her mum asked.

"What?" she said, her head whipping back around to look at Ron, who gave her a sheepish, lopsided grin and shrugged.

"Well," her father said. "We had planned to come next week like we'd told you. But then we received the most lovely, heartfelt letter from your young man, here, and we knew we had to make here for Christmas after all."

"Thank you," Hermione said as she hugged Ron. "Thank you so much."

"Well, we'll have a chance to visit more after the presents and such, let's settle back into the group for a while, alright?"

"Alright," Hermione nodded, still slightly in shock at seeing her parents.

Chairs were brought in, and soon the Grangers were sitting next to their daughter and enjoying the spectacle. People were oohing and aaahing over the gifts, and the parcels under the tree were dwindling. Finally, Ron pulled one out with Hermione's name on it and brought it over to her.

"Huh, doesn't say who it's from," she observed.

She focused on unwrapping the paper, and then found a small box. When she opened it, she found a diamond ring and looked up to find Ron on his knee in front of her. Gasping, she covered her mouth in shock as Ron started to speak.

"Hermione," he said aloud in a strong but scratchy voice. Then slowly but steadily he continued, "I've practiced with the speech therapist for weeks now to be able to say this aloud for all to hear. I love you more than life itself, and your amazing dedication over the past year has shown me you feel the same. Life with you was what I have always been fighting for, and I don't want to let another day go by without laying claim to that future. Hermione Jean Granger, will you marry me?"

She burst into tears and kissed him immediately. The room erupted into whistles and catcalls, but then Ron pulled back from the kiss and asked, "so that's a yes then?"

"Of course that's a yes, you ridiculous man. I would love to marry you!"

_"We finally get our happily ever after, Hermione,"_ he said to her silently.

She grinned, leaning in for a kiss as she silently replied, "_Yes we do. But, in a way it isn't that surprising. I guess I just refused to believe there was any other option for us."_

_"Well, then, I am glad you seem to always be right," _he said before he held her face in his hands and kissed her once again.

_**(A/N: I just wanted to say thanks for following along on this journey with me. As always, I can't tell you how much your reviews and notes of encouragement mean to me even when you don't hear back from me directly. And, I will say again - if you can't find the story you want to read, then I really encourage you to write it yourself. It continues to be a rewarding experience for me. I am trying to work on some of my own stories now and spend less time on fanfics, but I have to admit that it is somehow comforting to come back and write about characters I feel I know and love when I hit writers block in my own new universes. So, as it helps me write more overall, I will most likely keep writing these stories as I continue to pursue other writing channels as well. Thanks again for reading my works...carrytheotter) **_


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